S H 

H 



OBSERVATIONS 



ON THE 



FUR SEALS OF THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 




PRELIMINARY REPORT 



BY 



DAVID STARR JORDAN, 

President of Leland Stanford Jr. University, 
COMMISSIONER IN CHARGE OP FUR SEAL INVESTIGATIONS FOR 1896: 



AIDED BY THE FOLLOWING: 

LEONHARD STEJNEGER and FREDERIC A. LUCAS, 
Of tlae XJ. S. N^ational MiTiseiam. 

JEFFERSON F. MOSER, 

Lieutenant- Commander, U.S.N., 

In. Coinmand. of the IT'ish. CommissionL Stearaer AJ"batross. 

CHARLES H. TG^VNSEND, 
Of th.e TJ. S. Fisli Comnaission. 

GEORGE A. CLARK, 
Secretary and. Stenograplier. 

JOSEPH MURRAY, 
Special -A^ent. 



WASHINGTON: 

aOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1896. 




Glass O n ?^ fc ^ 
Book }J ^ 



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\\flA 



OBSERVATIONS 



ON THE 



^93 



FUR SEALS OF THE PRIBILOF ISLI^^DS. 



PRELIMINARY REPORT 



BY 



DAVID STARR JORDAN, 

M_si- . President of Leland Stanford Jr. UniversUi/ , 

COMMISSIONER IN CHARGE OF FUR SEAL INVESTIGATIONS FOR 1896; 



AIDED BY THE FOLLOWING: 

LEONHARD STEJNEGER and FREDERIC A. LUCAS, 

Of the XJ. S. ISTational MliaseuiXL. 

JEFFERSON F. MOSER, 

Lieutenant- Commander, U. S. N., 

In. Comraaiad. of the Fish. CommissiorL SteaiTier ^^Ibatross. 

CHARLES H. TOWNSEND, 
Of the XJ. S. IPish CoixuxLissioni. 

GEORGE A. CLARK, 

Secretary and. Stenographer. 

JOSEPH MURRAY, 
Special -Argent. 



WASH^GTOF: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 

1896. 






Treasury Department, 

Document No. 1913. 

Office of Secretary, 



OCT 12 1908 
D. Ot 0. 






ookte:nts. 



Page. 

Letter of traiisiiiittal 5 

I. The assifiiinient of work 9 

Mr. Jordan 9 

Mr. Stejueger 9 

Mr. Lucas 9 

Mr. Clark 9 

Mr. Townseud 9 

Mr. Murray 9 

II. The itinerary 9 

III. The fur seal calendar 10 

IV. The fur seal or sea bear 10 

Alaskan herd 10 

Russian herd 10 

Okhotsk herd 11 

Male fur seal 11 

Female fur seal 11 

• Young fur seal 11 

The harem 11 

The young male fur seal 11 

Names of the different categories 

of fur seals 11 

The fur seal and the hair seal 12 

The Remipedia 12 

The Pinuipedia 12 

V. The Pribilof Islands 12 

St. Paullslaud 12 

St. G eorge Island 12 

Vegetation 13 

Climate 13 

VI. The fur seal rookeries 13 

Breeding grounds 13 

Hauling grounds 13 

St. Paul 14 

Vostochni 14 

Morjovi 14 

Polovina 14 

Polovina clitfs 14 

Little Polovina 14 

Lukauin 14 

Kitovi 14 

Reef 14 

Sivutch Rock 14 

Ardiguen 14 

Gorbatch 14 

Zolotoi 14 

Spilki 14 

Lagoon 15 

Tolstoi 15 

Tolstoicliffs 15 

Tolstoi sands 15 

Zapadni 15 

Little Zapadni 15 

Zapadni Reef 15 

Marunichin 15 

Bobro vi 15 

St. George 15 

VII. Census of the rookeries 15 

A physical impossibility 15 

Sole accurate basis 15 

Count of live pups 15 

Count of cows 16 

Count of harems 16 

Count of dead pups 16 

Summary of statistics 16 

Total number of fur seals 16 

Losses at sea 17 

The great killer 17 



Page. 
YII. Census of the rookeries — Cont'd. 

Fur sculs of all classes — 17 

Deaths of fur seals 17 

History of Pribilof herd 17 

Decline of the herd 18 

Killable seals only noticed by 

most observers 18 

Distribution of seals on rookeries 18 

Elliott's census of fur seals 18 

Difticultie.s in measuring acreage. 19 

Estimatesof True and Townseud 19 

Variations in rookery outlines.. 19 
Half the CO ws only present at any 

one time 20 

Count of pups 20 

Estimates for 1895 20 

Acrojige estimates and photo- 
graphs unsatisfactory 21 

Townsend's crosses 21 

Decrease of harems 21 

Elements of change in the herd. . 31 
Estimates from quota of bach- 
elors 22 

Prophecy 22 

Estimates of past conditions 22 

Vm. Breeding habits of the fur seal 22 

All come to the islands 22 

ThebuU 22 

The cow 23 

Gestation 23 

Dr. Slunin's theories 24 

Copulation 24 

Belated impregnation 24 

Height of the season 24 

One at a birth 25 

Equality of sexes in n umbers 25 

IX. Alleged changes of habits 25 

S"o possibility of driving seals 

elsewhere 25 

Precautions against disturbance. 25 

Foolish fears 25 

Interference from examination ... 26 
The more visited the better, ex- 
cept in July 26 

Efi'ect-. of odors 26 

Reduction in number of bulls 27 

Natural selection 27 

Instinct and intelligence 27 

X. Pelagic sealing and its effects 28 

Killing at sea 28 

Indiscriminate killing 28 

Numbers of cows 28 

North Pacific catch 28 

Bering Seif catch 29 

All cows pregnant 29 

Virgin cows 29 

Dry cows 29 

Barren cows 29 

Feeding habits 29 

Proportion of females killed 29 

Pelagic sealing a suicidal indus- 
try 29 

Pelagic sealing sole cause of de- 
cline of herd 29 

Pregnancy of females at sea 30 

XI. Location of feeding grounds 30 

Individuals can not be followed .. 30 

3 



Page. 
XI. Loi'ntiiin fecdiu}; jirotinds — Cont'd. 

Nip sen Is iiiiiortln'astiiuadiaiit. 30 

;Sli;ir:itii)iis 30 

XII. Food ol' t lif fur si'iil 31 

Surface ti.slies aud s(iuid 31 

Tin- Alaskan pollack (I'oUach- 

ius cliuU'ogi\i)nuius) 31 

Tlio si|uiil ((:'i)(i((^(.s' n)/i(>'n((») . 31 

Ko coillisli, iKiliUut, nor shark. 31 

Siie\vini;s on t lie rookeries 31 

Fccdin;; of bachelors 31 

.Sealsreniain in water while food 

diyest s 31 

Mr. Alexander's observations. 32 

Amount of food consumed 32 

XIII. Food of the pups 32 

Sealsnursetheirown pupsonly 32 
"Weaning of piij)s not before No- 
vember 33 

XIV. Land killiiig of bachelor fur seals. 33 

Land killing useful to herd 33 

Overkilling as affecting the 

herd 33 

Little danger of overkilling ... 34 
Overkilling as affecting the fu- 
ture quota 34 

Occurred in 18.S7 to 1889 34 

No harm to the herd in this. ... 34 
Overkilling of males not a 

cause of decline of herd 34 

Conditions on Bering Island.. 35 

Poludeunoye llooUery 35 

Se venioye Eookery 35 

Conditions on Aledni Island. .. 35 

Wrangling of bulls 35 

Waiting bulls 35 

Institution of hauling grounds. 36 
XV. Need of .scientiticsupervisiou of the 

bi-eeding herds -• 36 

Improvement and extension of 

the rookeries 36 

XVI. Methods ofkilliug of bachelor seals 36 
Methods can not be much 

changed 37 

Care to avoid needless pain the 

only essential 37 

Moon-eyed bachelors 37 

Shortening of the drives 37 

Changes in interest of humanity 38 

Severity of drives 38 

A drive from the Keef 38 

A drive on Medni Island 40 

Dri\o\vay8 on Medni 41 

Palata driveway 41 

Effect of killing seals on their 

fellows 42 

Stolidity of the fur seal 42 

Smell of blood not his own 42 

Chilling of seals 42 

After effects of the drive 42 

Alleged impairment of virility 42 
Not wise to prohibit culling of 

drives 43 

Herding of culled bachelors. . . 43 

Injured bulls 43 

Castration 43 

XVII. Mortality of adult fur seals on the 

islands 44 

No specific diseases 45 

XVm. Mortality of pups 45 

A. The trampled pups 45 

ll,li45inall 45 

Unequal distribution of tram- 
pled pups 46 



Page. 
XVIII. ^Mortality of pups — Continued. 

Ueat'li traps 46 

I'olovina 46 

Tolstoi sands 46 

Zaj.adni 46 

Early death 46 

Lost i)Uiis 47 

Drowned pups 47 

Other causes of death 47 

Observations of Mr. Lucas.... 47 

The starved ])up from Zapadni. 48 

The crushed ])up 48 

Autopsies of trampled pups .. 48 

Polovina 48 

Tolstoi 48 

Kitovi 48 

Reef 49 

Lukanin 49 

Generalization 49 

Summary of autopsies August 

5 to 14'^ 49 

Autopsies August 15 to Sep- 
tember 8 49 

Localities of pu])S examined .. 49 

B. Starved pups 50 

Period of starvation 50 

Habits of ])ups 50 

Contents of pups' stomachs. . . 50 

Excrement of pups 50 

Pui)s not weaned until depar- 
ture from island 50 

Every orphan ])ui) starves.... 50 

Count of starved pups 51 

Foxes eat starved pups on St. 

George 52 

Estimates for St. George 52 

Statistics of pups 53 

Starved pups on Medni 53 

Autopsies on Medni Island 54 

XIX. Daily record of rookery life 54 

Ardiguen 54 

XX. The three fur seal herds do not iuter- 

mingle; herds entirely separate. 61 

Differences between herds.... 62 

XXI. Branding 62 

Branded pups 62 

XXII. Pelagic catch, 1896: 

American vessels 63 

Canadian vessels 63 

Proportion of sexes 65 

Jajianese catch 65 

Aleutian Islands catch 65 

XXm. Eesults arising from the acts based 

upon the Paris tribunal 65 

Conditions of pelagic sealing.. 65 

Sixty-mile zone 66 

Open season 66 

Steam vessels not permitted.. 66 

Special license and flag 66 

Statistical records 66 

Prohibition of firearms 67 

Skill in use of spear 67 

Use of open canoes 67 

Kevision of regulations 67 

Patrol of Bering Sea 68 

Closing of Bering Sea 68 

Hope of permanent adjustment 68 
No settlement final if permit- 
ting pelagic sealing 68 

Ultimate end in view 69 

Need of clean hands on our part . 69 

The sea otter 69 

Projiosed slaughter of the seal 

herds 69 



LETTER OF TRA]S^SMIT':rAL. 



Hon. John G. Carlisle, 

Secretarji of the Treasury. 

Dear Sir: I have the houor to transmit to yon the following preliminarj'^ report 
on investigations on the fur seal in Bering Sea, made in the snmuier of 1896, in pur- 
suance of an act of Congress, as follows: 

"Resolved hi/ the Senate and House of llepresentatives of the United States of America 
in Congress assenthted, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and is hereby, author- 
ized to expend, from any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise ajipropriated, a sum 
sufficient to provide for the em]iloyment of persons to conduct a scientitic investiga- 
tion, during the fiscal years eighteen hundred and ninety-sis and eighteen hundred 
and ninety-seven, of the present condition of the fur-seal her<ls on the Pribilof, Com- 
mander, and Kurile islands in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, said amount 
not to exceed for both said years the sum of live thousand dollars. 

"The Secretary is also authorized to employ a stenographer in connection with 
t^is investigation at a rate of compensation not exceeding one thousand five hundred 
dollars per annum, and to pay his compensation and expenses out of any moneys in 
the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. 

"The President is authorized to detail, for the purposes of assisting in this inves- 
tigation, any officer or officers or employees of the United States (lovernment, their 
actual expenses and the expenses of the person or persons employed under the pre- 
ceding paragraph to be paiil by the Secretary of the Treasury out of any moneys in 
the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. 

"The President may detail a vessel of the United States for the purpose of carry- 
ing out this investigation." 

In accordance with the act above quoted, I was a])pointed to take charge of the 
investigation of the fur seals on .June 18, 1896. Mr. .Josejjh Murray, of Fort Collins, 
Colo., formerly United States Treasury agent at St. Paul Island, was selected as 
assistant, and the following persons from the United States National Museum and 
the United States Fish Commission were detailed as associates: Lieut. Connnander 
Jefferson F. ]\loser, commanding the United States Fish Commission steamer Alba- 
tross; Dr. Leonard Stejneger, curator of reptiles, United States National Museum; 
Mr. Frederic A. Lucas, curator of comparative auatomy, LIuited States National 
Mnseum, and Mr. Charles H. Towusend, naturalist of the Albatross. 

In accordance with the provisions of tlie act above quoted, Mr. George Archibald 
Clark, president's secretary at Leiand Stanford Junior University, was ap])ointed 
secretary and stenographer to the investigation, and by the faithfulness and accu- 
racy of his natural history observations, as well as by his stenographic skill, he has 
contributed very largelj-^ to the success of the work. 

I can not speak in too high terms of the zeal with which Messrs. Stejneger, Lucas, 
and Clark gave themselves to the trying work involved in this investigation. To 
their desire for absolute accuracy in all details, and to their energy in carrying out 
the work assigned to them, the success of the investigation nuiy be chiefly attributed. 
As commander of the Albatross, Captain Moser was of the greatest service to the 
Commission, his deep interest in the work, his extensive hydrographic knowledge, 
and his excellent seamanshi]), being factors of great importance. The work assigned 
to Mr. Townsend was executed with his accustomed care and accuracy, and the prac- 
tical knowledge of Mr. Murray proved of great value. The continuous and efficient 
interest of Assistant Secretary Charles S. Hamlin in these and all other matters per- 
taining to Alaska has been a large element in the success of our work. 

Series of similar investigations were carried on at the same time by Prof. D'Arcy 
W. Thompson, of the University of Dundee, and Mr. Gerald K. II. Barrett-Hamilton, 
of Dublin, commissioners for Great Britain, and by Mr. James M. Macouu and Mr. 

5 



6 

Andrew Halkett, of Ottawa, commissioners for Canada. These investigations were 
independent of those under my direction, bnt all results obtained by ns were placed 
fully and irecly at the dinjioisal of the loreign commissioners, and like courtesies 
were extended to us by them in leturn. 

I have further to acknowledge indebtedness foi' favors or assistance of one sort or 
another received from the following persons: 

Mr. .loseiih B. Crowley, s])ecial, and Messrs. James Judge and Thomas P". Adams, 
assistant, Treasury agents on the islands; Capt. C. L. Hooper, commanding the Bering 
Sea patrol Heet; Capt. W. H. Hoberts and officers of the United States revenue cut- 
ter liunh: Capt. H. 1). Smith and officers of the rcrri/ ; Ca])t. W. D. Koath and officers 
of the Corwiii ; Capt. Francis Tuttle and officers of the Bear, and Capt. J. A. Slamm 
and officers of the Grant; Messrs. Garrett, Parmenter, Dubois, and other officers of 
the Albatross, and Mr. N. B. Miller, asssistant naturalist on board the same vessel; Mr. 
Joseph Stanley-Brown, superintendent, and Messrs. J. C. Kedpath, Daniel Webster, 
E. J. Baldwin, Harry Chichester, and Captain Nice, employees of the North American 
Commercial Company on the Pribilof Islands and at Unalaska, and Drs. Otto Vosa 
and L. A. Noyes, the company's resident physicians on St. Paul and St. George; Capt. 
Albert C. Allen and officers of H. M. S. SatellUe, and Capt. F. A. Garforth and officers 
of H. M. S. Pheasant ; Col. Nicholas Grebuitzi, then governor of Komandorski; Major 
Waxell, governor of Medni Island, and Mr. Emil Kluge, agent of the Kussian Fur 
Seal Skin Company on Bering Island. 

The general report of the observations of the summer will appear later, and will 
be of a monographic character, illustrated by charts and plates. The present pre- 
liminary report deals brietiy with the practical (luestious involved in the investiga- 
tion, and particularly with answers to the questions asked in the letter of instructions 
from the Acting Secretary of the Treasury. The following is the full text of this 
letter: 

TKE.\sri{Y Dei-artment, Office of the Secretary, 

WasUnglon, D. C, June IS, 1896. 

Dr. David S. Joisdax, 

Palo Alto, Cal. 

Sir: Further instructing you as to the scientific investigation to be made by you 
of the present condition of the fur-seal herds on the I'ribilof, Commander, and 
Kurile islands, I have the honor to stnte that Prof. D'Arcy W. Thompson and Mr. 
Jnmes M. Maconn have been designated by the British Government and Canadian 
government, respectively, to make an independent investigation relative to the 
same subject. Having iound it impracticable to rely upon the ordinary means of 
reaching the fur-seal islands, they have been offered, and have accepted, transporta- 
tion and accommodations on board the steamer All>atross, and will be granted the 
same facilities as yourself and party for conducting their independent investiga- 
tions. As regards the investigation on behalf of the United States Government, 
you are charged with the arrangement of the details both of the Held work and of 
the work to be performed by the gentlemen designated to a.ssist you, reliance being 
placed upon your judgment to utilize to the best advantage the means supplied for 
accomplishing the objects of the expedition. You are authorized to direct the mem- 
bers of your party to act conjointly with you on all matters, or you may assign them 
severally to the study of si^parate subjects, or to ditferent localities, as you consider 
most expedient. The advisability is suggested for your consideration of sending 
one of your party upon the Albatross to the Kurile Islands and Robben Island. 
Should you need transportation by vessel during such absence of the Albatross, the 
commander of the Bering Sea patrol fleet. Captain Hooper, will be instructed to 
render you every facility. 

Your final report will be expected to relate more specifically to the group of seals 
which resort to the Pribilof Islands, but the Asiatic herd may be investigated to 
such extent as seems advisable in order to afford the opportunity for instituting 
comparisons from which important deductions may be readied. 

The principal object of this investigation is to determine by precise and detailed 
observations, fii-st, the present condition of the American fur-seal herd; second, the 
nature and imminence of the causes, if any, which appear to threaten its extermi- 
nation ; third, what, if any, benefits have been secured to the herd through the 
operation of the act of Congress and act of Parliament based upon the award by the 
Paris Tribunal of Arbitration ; fourth, what, if any, additional protective measures 
on land or at sea, or changes in tlie present system of regulations as to the closed 
season, prohibited zone, prohibition of firearms, etc., are required to insure the 
preservation of the fur-seal herd. 

Your inquiries should furthermore be extended, in so far as the time and circum- 
stances permit, to embrace the consideration of all important (juestions relating to 
the natural history of the seals, both at sea and on the islands, with special refer- 
ence to their bearing upon the sealing industry. 



Your attention is specially directed to the following questions, which should be 
treated in your report: 

1. The effect of pelagic sealing in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea upon 
the fur-seal hei'd, due account being taken of the classes of seals killed. 

2. What effect, if any, has the annual removal of bachelor seals, which has taken 
place on the Pribilof Islands, had upon the fur-seal herd? 

The solution of these two questions involves a study of the entire subject of the 
regulations of the two sexes and the proportion of the male seals required to be pre- 
served in order to maintain the stability of the herd. 

3. Whether killing on land or sea has interfered with the regular habits and 
occupation of the islands by the herd, or has operated to reduce the strength of the 
seal race as a whole by a natural selection. 

4. The propriety of existing methods of driving seals from the hauling grounds to 
the killing grounds, culling, and other practices connected therewith. 

5. The cause of the destruction of nursing pups upon the islands. 

During the seasons of 1894 and 1895 about 20,000 and 30,000 dead pups, respec- 
tively, were found upon the islands. You should specially consider the causes of 
their death, whether from starvation or other cause, preserving specimens when- 
ever practicable. 

6. The extent, date, and cause of mortality on the islands of seals of all classes. 

7. The breeding habits of the seals, with special reference to the age at which the 
females begin or cease to breed, and the frequency of the breeding, whether annually 
or at longer intervals. 

8. The condition of female seals taken at sea, as to nursing and pregnancy. 

9. The distance which the several classes of seals go from the islands and the 
directions which they take in search of food or rest at different times during the 
season. 

10. The actual decrease, if any, in the number of seals in each class on the Pribilof 
Islands which has occurred during the past year, and also since the year 1890, and 
since the year 1870. A careful census of the rookeries should be taken this season 
for comparison with the enumeration made in 1895 and previous years. 

11. An examination of the question as to the character of the food of fur seals. 

12. Whether the Pribilof Island herd of fur seals intermingle with the Asiatic 
herds of the Commander or Kurile islands. 

13. Whether nursing seals nurse other than their own pups on the islands. 
These latter questions are merely suggestions to guide you in your examination and 

report. 

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, yours, 

Charles S. Hamlin, 

Acting Secretary. 

The questions here indicated are answered briefly in the present report, which 
deals mainly with the practical matters involved in the preservation of the fur seal, 
1 am, very respectfully, yours, 

David Starr Jordan. 
Palo Alto, Cal., November 7, 1896. 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE FUE SEALS OF THE 
PEIBILOF ISLANDS. 



I. ASSIGNMENT OF WORK. 

As the act of Congress above quoted couteinplates a very exteiuled iiivesti,<j;atiou, 
the work has been divided among the members of the Commission as follows: 

1. The general report; the diarj^ of daily observations; detailed descriptions of the 
rookeries; hanling and killing grounds and drives; the starvation of pnps, and the 
general movements of the seals on the islands — Dr. .lordan and Mr. Clark. 

2. Anatomical studies; the causes of mortality among the seals; pelagic sealing 
from the natural history point of view; the historical sketch — Mr. Lucas. 

3. The photographic work and maps; statistics of the pelagic catch; charts show- 
ing the distril)uti('n of the seals in Bering Sea — Mr. Towusend. 

4. A. study of the fur seal herds of the Connnander, Kurile, and Roblieu islands; 
natural history and hydrography of Okhotsk f?ea — Dr. Stejneger. 

5. Hydrogra])hic observations, and control of the Alhaiross — Ca]itain Closer. 

6. The oversight of certain ])ractical experiments, the most important of them 
being the branding of fur seals — Colouel Murray. 

II. ITINEFARY. 

The United States Fish Comujisslon aienmev Albatross, with the American Commis- 
sion and Professor Thompson and Mr. Macoun, of the British Commission, left 
Seattle on the morning of June 2J, ariiving at St. George Island, Bering Sea, on the 
afternoon of July 8. July 9, 10, and 11 were spent in and about this island making 
general observations, photographing the rookeries, and counting the breeding seals. 
The time between July 12 and 18 was occupied in similar wori< on St. Paul Island. 

July 18 the AlhaliOKS steamed for Unalaska, leaving Mr. Townsend there and taking 
Dr. Stejneger to the Commander Islands. .Inly 30 to August 9 were spent abotit these 
islands, August 22 to 26 about the Kuriles, and August 28 to September 2 about 
Robbeu Island, reaching Hakodate. Japan, Septeml>er 10. 

On July 28 Mr. Lucas, Professor Thoni|tson, and Colonel Murray visited St. George 
Island, the first two returning to St. Paul on August 5. Mr. Townsend returned 
from Unalaska August 8, and he aud Mr. Lucas spent the time until the 12th at sea, 
on board the Rnsh, boarding vessels of the sealiTig fleet. 

Aiigust 8 to 14, inclusive, were occupied in counting trampled pups on St. Paul. A 
similar count was made by ]\Ir. Lucas and Mr. Macoun August 16 to 21 on St. George. 

On August 16 Professor Thompson and Dr. Jordan lelt St. Paul Island in H. M. S. 
Satellite for the Connnander Islands, spending August 24 and 25 on the rookeries of 
these islands and returning to St. Paul on September 1, bringing with them Mr. 
Barrett-Hamilton, another member of the British Commission. 

Mr. Townsend left St. Paul on the company's steamer Homer for San Francisco 
August 23. Colonel Murray returned from St. George Se])teml)er 1. and on the fol- 
lowing day made experiments in branding pups on Lukanin Rookery. Messrs. 
Lucas and Barrett-Hamilton spent September 2 to 5 at sea on the i^«8/(, among the 
pelagic sealers. 

On September 8 Dr. Jordan, Professor Thompson, and Mr. Lucas sailed with the 
Bush for Sitka and thence to Seattle, Messrs. Clark, Barrett-Hamilton, and Colonel 
Murray remaining on St. Paul. 

On September 11 further experiments in branding were made. The starved and 
starving pups on St. Paul were counted September 28 to October 1. A similar count 
was made on St. George October 6. On Octolier 7 Messrs. Clark and Macoun returned 
to St. Paul, Mr. Barrett-Hamilton remained on St. George, and Colonel Murray 
went to Unalaska. On October 22 the remaining commissioners left the islands on 
the Bear and arrived in Port Towusend November 3. 

9 



10 



III. THE FUR SEAL CALENDAR. 

ascd upon tlio recorilt) in the loj-, 1872-1896, and on obsurvatioiis made the present season.] 

Close season for pela<fic sealinj; begius May 1 ami ends July 31. 

Arrival of lirst bulls lauges btitween April 15 and May 6. 

Arrival of first bachelor, March 1 to May 14. 

Arrival of mass of bulls, May 15 to .June 1. 

Arrival of first cows, .June 5 to .Tune 16 (one season May 17). 

Birth of first pup, .June 10 to . I line 18 (one recorded May 21). 

First food drive, April 3i) to June 4 (one recorded March 17; two in February). 

Kookeries at their height, .Inly 6 to 16. 

Birth of majority of pups, .June 10 to July 1. 

Greatest death rate of trani|)led pups, July 1 to 10. 

Pups begin to pod, June 20 to .July 1. 

Arrival of first 2-year-old cow, July 27. 

Formation of harems of 2-year-olds, July 30 to August 10. 

Last drive for skins takes place .July 14 to August 4. 

Arrival of first yearling cow, August 1. 

Arri.val of body of yearling females, August 10 to 15. 

Pelagic sealing begins August 1. 

Pui)s begin to swim July 27 to August 5. 

Bulls grow mild so that rookery can be entered, August 5 to 15. 

Last pu]) born, August 14. 

Best time to conut pups, Augnst 15 to 20. 

Last food drive, December 6 to February 8. 

Last copulation noticed, August 27. 

Pups begin to die from starvation through pelagic sealing, August 10 to 15. 

Bulls begin to leave, August 5 to September 1. 

Seal fur is stagy, Augnst 15 to October 20. 

Idle bulls enter rookeries, August 5. 

Formation of false harems by half bulls, August 10 to 20. 

Pups swim long distances from rookery, August 26 to September 15. 

Pups begin to turn gray, September 1 to 8. 

Best time to brand pups, September 10 to 20. 

Adult bulls return from feeding grounds, September 15 to 20. 

Starved pups all dead, October 20. 

Pelagic sealing ends, Sei)tcmber 15 to October 1. 

Weaning of pui)S, time of departure. 

Departure of cows, November 5 to 15. 

Departure of pups, November 5 to 15. 

Departure of bulls, when winter drives tliem. 

Dejiartnre of half bulls, when winter drives them. 

Departure of bachelors, when winter drives them. 

IV. THE FUR SEAL, OR SEA BEAR. 

The "fur seal'' or "sea bear," known in science as Callorhinns tirsiniis, is resident 
only on certain islands in Bering and Okhotsk seas, all of these islands having been 
unknown to aboriginal man, and none of them having been visited by man so far as 
known before the discovery of Bering and Medni islands by Vitus Bering in 1741, 
and that of St. George Island by Gerassim Pribilof in 1786. 

The species known as the "fur seal" ibrms three distinct herds, which do not inter- 
mingle with each other in any way, the individuals of each type being distinguishable 
from the others by several characters of importance. 

THE THREE HERDS. 

The most important of these is the American or Alaskan herd living on the two 
islands of the Pribilof group — St. Paul and St. George. Next to this comes the 
Russian herd of the Komandorski or Commander islands, Bering and Medni (Cop- 
per) islands. The third herd is that of Okhotsk Sea, resident on Kobben Island, 
■where a remnant still remains, and formerly having rookeries also on three islands 
of the Kurile group — Musir, Kaikoke, and Srednoi. The rookeries on these islands 
are now, however, virtually extinct. 

The American herd renuiins at its home on the Pribilof Islands during the sum- 
mer, the individuals going out at intervals to feed over a radius of about 200 miles. 
In November they are driven away by the approach of winter, going southward in the 
open sea, returning northward near the coast, the range of their movements extend- 



11 

ing alonn' tlie coast of Alaska, British Columbia, and the United States as far south 
at least as San Fiauciseo. Tliey are not known to eonie on lanil anywhere but on 
the PribiJof Islands excejjt, ])eiha])s, in very rare eases svhei-e the animals have 
been wounded. In like manner the Conunander Island heid moves southward in 
winter along the east coast of Japan, and the herd from Robbeu Island passes 
from Okhotsk Sea along the coast of the inland sea of Japan. 

THE MALE FUR SEAL. 

The male fur seal reaches full maturity at the age of about 7 years. At that time 
his weight is about 400 to 500 pounds, l>eing considerably heavier when lirst in from 
the sea in the spring or fall than in the intervening period when he is fastiug on 
laud. The males vary considerably in color, the general shade being black or dark 
brown, with longer hairs or bristles of yellowish white. These are sjtecially long 
and numerous on the thickened back of the neck, forming the so-called "wig." The 
male is commonly known as the "bull," iu Russian as "sikatch," in Aleut "atagh." 
Earlier observers made use of the appropriate uameof " beachmaster," which deserves 
to be retained. 

THE FEMALE FUR SEAL. 

The female fur seal is much smaller than the male, with soft, smooth fur of varying 
shades of brown, the younger females being usually, but not always, silvery white 
underneath the throat. The female bears her iirst offspring at the age of 3 years, 
hut her full growth is not attained till two or three years later. The average weight 
of the grown female is about 80 pounds. The female is connnouly known as the 
"cow," in Russian as "niatka"or mother. The name "clap-match" used by the 
early explorers is now obsolete. 

THE YOUNG FUR SEAL. 

The young fur seal, known as the "pup," in Russian "kotik" or "kitten," is born 
soon after the arrival of the cow. It is black in color, sometimes brownish on the 
belly and with a large whitish spot iu the axil. Its weight at birth is about 10 
pounds. 

THE HAKEM. 

The animals are polygamous, each male capable of holding a place on the breed- 
ing grounds having from 1 to 100 females iu his charge, the average number 1>eing 
about 30. But the number is subject to variation due not chiefly to the strength of 
the bull, but dependent upon the preference of the co\v for a location and on the 
relation of the topography of the rookery. The animal makes its home on tlie rocky 
shores of the islands in large close-massed bands, formiug what are called rookeries. 
The fur seal is extremely gregarious, individuals seldom ventui'ing far from the main 
body while on laud, though wandering about singly in the sea. 

THE YOUNG MALE FUR SEAL. 

The young male, known as the "bachelor," in Russian "hf)lostiak," is very similar 
to the female in color and appearance. The holostiak is not permitted to enter the 
rookeries in the breeding season. The old males are very strenuous iu this regard 
and the bachelors are forced to form se])ar.ite herds on what are known as the 
"hauling grounds." While the males and females on the islands are more or less 
definitely fixed to the spot selected by them iu the breeding rookery, it is Udtso with 
the young males, and the movements of the bachelor herds are very irregular. For 
this reason the hauling grounds are much more extensive than the breeding grounds 
and their occupancy varies from day to day. From these hauling grounds, iu the 
season when their fur is at its best, the young bachelors of about 3 years of age 
are driven and killed. These young males are known as "killable " seals. Small 
4-year-old8 and large 2-year-olds, a])]nTrxinuiting the size of the 3-year-olds, are 
also regarded as killable. Mixed with the bachelors are found the so-called half 
bulls (polosikatch). These animals, from 4 to 6 years of age, have the size and 
appearance of grown bulls, but lack their strength and courage, and can not main- 
tain themselves on the rookeries. 

NAMES OF THE DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OF FUR SEALS. 

The eccentricities of the nomenclature of the fur seal has been frequently noted. 
It seems, for example, incongruous that a "cow" should occupy a place in a "harem" 
on a "rookery" aud bear a "pup," and that the young so born, if a male, should be 
known for the first years of his life as a bachelor. But these names, as Mr. Elliott 
has observed, are justified because they are pat. When understood, they create no 



12 

confnsioii. The Kiissiaii names, "sikatch" (grown bull), "))()]r)sikc'itcir' (half bnll 
or wigged bachelor), "holostiak" (hiu;helor not wigged), "luiitka" (mother), and 
•'kotik." (pup), are in common use anutng the Aleuts on the Pril)ilot' Iskinds, as well 
as on the Commander Islands. These words form their plural in i, thus: sikatchi, 
holostiaki." The Aleut names, "atagh" (l)nl]), "eunatha"' (cow), "lakutha" (th 
as iu the) (pup), are now used mainly by children. 

THE FUl! SEAL AXD TIIK IIAIK SEAL. 

The use of the term "soul" in connection with the animals under discussion is 
somewhat misleading. The original name of "sea bear," given to it by its first dis- 
coverer, Steller, is in every way preferable, as the fur seal is not a "seal,"' nor has it 
any close affinity witii the suborder of Pinnipedia, to which the true or earless seals 
belong. Beyoucl the I'act that both fur seal and hair seal are carnivorous mammals, 
feeding on fish and adapted for life in the water, the two types have little iu common. 
Iu structure, ajipearauce, habits, dispositiou, method of locomotion, they are entirely 
distinct aud their evolution as pelagic animals has been along separate lines. 

THE REMIPEDIA. 

The i'ur seals, with their associates, the walrus and sea lion^, constituting the sub- 
order JU'miiK'dia (Jordan & Lucas), are obviously related to the bc^ars. The hair 
seals, whiitever their origin, must have come along other lines from a ditierent parent 
stock, and their relation to l.ind caruivora is more remote. Ths Hemipedia, among 
other characters, have plantigrade feet, the anterior limljs modified as oars, and 
■with rudimentary da w.s, if any. The posterior lim))s bend forward at the knee, and 
the long, webbed toes extend beyond the claws. Only the anterior limbs are used 
in swimming. The head and neclc can 1)e elevated as in the bear, and the external 
ear is moderately developed. The animal can run or lope along the ground as do 
ordinary mammals and with considerable rapidity. 

THE PINNIPEDIA. 

The various forms of true or hair seal, constituting the suborder Pinnipedia, have 
the feet not exactly plantigrade, short, with strong claws, only the posterior limbs 
being used in swimming, aud these not being susceptible of bending forward at the 
knee! The animal therefore can not walk or lope at all, bat only wriggles while 
on land. Its neck is short and it can scarcely raise its head. There are no external 
ears. 

In the internal structure the differences are equally marked. In both species the 
thick blubl)er under tlie skin goes with the life iu cold water. The resemblauces 
associated with aquatic habitat are only analogies aud have no value iu scientific 
classification. 

Much misconception as to the nature aud habits of the fur seal has arisen from its 
supposed resemblance to the animals called "seals" in the Atlantic; but so long as 
its fur has commercial value the "sea bear" will doubtless produce ".seal skins," 
and even though killed on land only it will be the object of a "seal fishery." 

V. THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 

The Pribilof group consists of two volcanic islands, both composed entirely of 
lava and cinders, and known as 8t. Paul aud St. George. P.esides these there are two 
smaller islands, known as Otter and AValrus islands, with the little islet of Sivutch or 
Sea Lion Rock. These islands are in Bering 8ea> about 200 miles to the northwest of 
Uualaska and about 45 miles apart, St. Paiil lying to the northwest of St. George. 

ST. PAUL ISLAND. 

St. Paul, the more important island, is very irregular in form, the greatest length 
being from northeast to southwest, about 13 miles. Its greatest width is about 10 
miles. The volcanic crater of Bogoslof, in the ceuter of the island, rises to a height 
of about 600 feet. Numerous other volcanic dikes and craters of various heights 
occur on the island. 

ST. (iEOUGE ISLAND. 

St. George is about 11 miles long, east and west, by 7 north and south. It is more 
elevated than St. Paul, its central peak, Aluckeyak, being 930 feet high. Its shore 
outline is scarcely broken by bays or indentations, and most of its coast is formed by 
walls of basaltic rocks. 

*Not "holluschickie." 



13 



VEOKTATION. 

The surface of the elevated parts of both islands are iu siiiiinier covered with moss 
and grasses, in which are surprisiu.n' numbers of showy wild Howers. A list of the 
species of these has been pitblished by Dr. 0. Hart Merriaui. Conspicuous among 
them are the Iceland pojtpy, the monkshood, with species of lupine, bctony, chrys- 
anthemum, senccio, saxifraj-e, harebell, and many others. The lower parts of the 
island are covered with a .soil of damp black lava sand. Here nourishes a coarse, 
rank, useless grass — the rye grass {Elijmioi iiiolliii). With the rye grass is the coarse 
Putchki, a species of Jrcltanyelica, used by the Aleuts as a spice. The abandoned 
hauling grounds of the fur seal are rapidly invaded by two si)ecies of slender light- 
green grasses known as " seal grass." These contrast sliarply with the coarse d;irk- 
green rye grass and a luxuriiint species of wormwood, neither of which grow on 
land where seals have regularly hauled. About the rookeries themselves the move- 
ments of the seals virtually destroy all vegetation. 

CLIMATE. 

The Pribilof Islands are almost constantly euvelojied in mist. Throughout .June 
and July the wenther is continuously cloudy, usually foggy, with almost half the 
time a dull, drizzling rain, usually accompanied by a southeast wind. Many stormy 
days occni', but the storms in summer are not violent, although approach to the 
islands in rough weather is dangerous on account of the dense fogs. 

In August there are more clear days, and in bright weather the islands arc very 
picturesque. AVith the fairer weather the occasional storms become more violent, 
and by the middle of .September all vessels which can get away lind it well to leave 
Bering Sea. With the winter come many clear days, and between them are tempes- 
tuous storms. The floe ice gathers about the islands, tilling the bights and inlets 
until April or May, and the sno^v piles high iu the depressions between the hills. 
The snow banks about Zapadni, on St. Paul, remain till late in summer, serving as 
landmarks to seamen. 

VI. THE FUR SEAL ROOKERIES. 

UltEEDING GROUNDS. 

Wherever there is a rocky beach of some breadth or a slo])iug rocky hill on the 
Pribilof Islands, the fur seals have formed their rookeries. The best type of rookery 
is a moderate slope covered with coarse rocks and descending to a beach of coarse 
shingle or rounded bowlders. On these rookeries the gregarious habit of the fur 
seals causes them to crowd as closely as may be, often to their own disadvantage, 
as on crowded areas many young pups are tramj^led under foot. 

HAULING GROUNDS. 

The hauling grounds of the bachelors nve usually sandy beaches adjoining the 
rookeries, ascending on one side to the heights behind the latter. There are also 
here and there neutral strips iu the long rookeries which have been abandoned to the 
bachelors, and along which they go back and forth to their hauling grounds or parade 
grounds above the rookeries. Sometimes, as on Tolstoi and Zapadni, the bachelors 
make runways across the rookeries, which are not recognized as neutral by the adult 
bulls. Along these strips, which may be said to be not officially recognized as haul- 
ing grounds, there is constant disputation between the beachmasters and the moving 
bachelors. 

The dilferent rookeries have for the most part retained their picturesque Eussian 
names. It seems to us very desirable that they should continue to do so. It would 
perhaps be as well if Russian* equivalents were substituted lor the few English 
names which have come into use. 

* As to the spelling of the Russian names, there has been much disagreement, and 
the current orthography is often far from correct. In the present report, without 
attempting extreme purism, we have chosen the spelling which seems most nearly 
correct. It has been found convenient to name two new sections of breeding terri- 
tory not heretofore separately recognized. For assistance in this matter we are 
under special obligations to Mr. Alexis V. Babin, librarian of the University of 
Indiana, a native of Russia. 



14 



ST. PAUL. 

The followinj? are the breeding rookeries on St. Paul, beginning with tbe largest 
cue, on Northeast Point: 

1. \'oHtochni {EaHteni). — This lios as a long strip abont a mile in length, mostly on 
beaches of coarse bowlders, and interrupted at intervals l)y landing places and haul- 
ing grounds of bachelors. Along the foot of Hutchinson Hill the rookery becomes 
wide and closely massed. Toward its eastern end at Northeast Point it thins out 
along the rocky beach, the tip of the point, this being the artificial boundary between 
Vostochui and Morjo\i. The view of Vorstochui from Hutchinson Hill is the most 
impressive on the island, a greater number of fur seals being visible there than from 
any other point in the world. 

2. Morjoci (of the walrii8). — This is the continuation of Vostochni, along the south- 
east side of Northeast Point. It consists of a dense, S(iuare mass of seals on rather 
level ground adjoining the Walrus Bight, a little bay formerly inhabited by the 
walrus. Along the coarse bowlder-strewn beaches for some distance the narrow ends 
of the rookery extend, the little spit known as 8ea Lion Neck being included in it. 
Vostochni and Morjovi have usually been considered together as Northeast Point 
rookeiy, but our convenience is best met by separate names, as they have separate 
centers of massing. 

3. Polovbia (halfway). — This rookery lies along the sloping hills, cliffs, and pro- 
jecting reef of Polovina Point, midway between Northeast Point and the village, and 
on the eastern angle of the island. The main part of Polovina is compact and 
densely massed. To the northward for half a mile extends a belt of clilfs, with a 
narrow, rocky beach below. This is occupied by seals, and recorded in our census as 
Polovina clitfs. Still farther to the north along rocks and columns of basalt is the 
picturesque, isolated little rookery known as Little Polovina. 

4. Lnkanin (name of an earhj explorer and seal hunter). — At the northern base of the 
high peninsnhi at the south end of the island liegius the long sweep of Lnkanin Bay, 
with its curved sand beach. To the south of Lnkanin Bay, on an irregular, rocky 
slope of moderate elevation, is Lnkanin rookery. It is one of the smaller rookeries, 
but being near to the village aiul easy of observation by men.ns of projecting cliffs 
behind it, it is one of the best known. 

.5. Kitovi [of the whale). — This rookery is the southward continuation of Lnkanin, 
along bold rocks, basaltic columns, and slope's of cinders and lava. The division 
between Kitovi and Lnkanin is an arbitrary one at Lnkanin Point. For purposes 
of census observations this rookery is the best situated of all, and on no other large 
area is the rock formation so favorable for rookery purposes. This is shown by the 
small number of deaths of pups from the trampling of bulls. 

6. The Reef (Riforoi/e) is the name applied to the east side of the peninsula which 
forms the southern extremity of St. Paul. It is a rocky beach with mostly very gentle 
slope, and interrupted by two ponds lilled by the surf in winter and becoming inde- 
scribably foul in summer, as the bachelors wallow through them. This is one of the 
largest rookeries, and it is separated from its fellow ((lorbatch) on the west shore of 
the peninsula by the broad. Hat "parade ground," now overgrown by grass and 
flowers, liut ten years ago worn smooth by the hosts of wandering bachelors. 

7. Sivutcli Rock (Sea Lion Rock) is a small, crescent-shaped, boldly rocky island 
covered with fur seals. On its southern extremity returning bachelors first land in 
spring. 

8. Ardujuen (pile of stones). — On the southwest edge of the reef, to the west of the 
ultimate point, is a rocky slope and beach with high paray)et-like rocks above it, to 
which it ascends at one point by a rocky slide. The rocks, slide, and part of the parade 
ground are hlled with fur seal families. The wall-like rocks on the parade ground 
make it possible to approach very close to these families while unseen by them. It 
is the best point for observation of family life on the island, and an almost daily 
record of this life has been kept by us. In view of the isolation of this small body 
of seals, and of our observations upon them, it has seemed desirable to give the rook- 
ery a distinct name. This we have taken from the Aleuts. The percentage of 
trampled pups was less on Ardignen than elsewhere on the island. 

9. Gorbatch. — This picturescjue rookery lies along the west shore of the reef penin- 
sula. The shore is generally steep, formed of coarse basaltic columns below and of 
fine cinders above toward the south end. To the northward coarse rocks and high 
cliffs appear, which extend to the famous sand beach and hauling grounds known as 
Zolotoi (golden), from its yellowish lava sands. Behind the sand are drifting dunes, 
and along its eastern margin are Zolotoi blulis, covered most of the time by waiting 
half bulls. The nearness of Zolotoi sands and bluffs to the village has brought its 
bachelor herds under constant inspection. 

10. Sjrilki. — A small rookery near the landing place at the village, now abandoned 
by the seals. 



15 

11. Lagoon. — A long, narrow reef of coarse bowlders separating the shallow village 
bay or harbor from the salt lagoon. It is lined with fur seal families, but has no 
importance as a hairling ground. It is in ]ilain sight and hearing of the village, to 
"which fact its inhabitants show utter indifference. 

12. Tolstoi (thick). — This rookery extends from the tip of Tolstoi IVIys or headland 
for a long distance on tlie east side of Englisli IJay. The northern portion of Tolstoi 
rookery encroaches on the broad sand Hat of j\liddle Hill on the north side of Eng- 
lish Bay. The southern portion of Tolstoi lies along the base of considerable cliffs, 
which at Tolstoi Head become precipitous, leaving no room for harems. Behind 
Tolstoi rises a steep, rocky slope, up the sides of which the rookery extends. The 
sand Hat of Tolstoi is more densely covered by fnr seals than any other part of the 
island. In the height of the breeding season this crowded area is the scene of con- 
stant brawls among the bulls, and the number of trami)led pujis found here is greater 
than on any other rookery. On the whole, Tolstoi is the most interesting of the 
rookeries. The view from above is very picturesque, and there is greater variety in 
the conditions of life offereil by it. 

VS. Zapodiii {westerly).— This rookery, the second in size on the islands, extends 
along the west side of English Bay, from the high and vertical Zapadni headland, aa 
far as the beginning of the sands of Middle Hill. The main part of the rookery is 
a gentle rocky slope \Nith irregular surface and ragged coast line, the seals in many 
places closely massed in shallow gullies ("death traps" tor pups). To the east, 
across a narrow sand flat, at the mouth of a little brook, the brow of a rocky hill is 
occupied by Little Zapadni, an interesting rookery of small size. Then along the 
coarse bowlders of English Bay is a long strip with isolated patches of fur seals, 
here recorded as Zapadni Eeef. The sandy shores of English Bay, below Middle 
Hill, often lined with bulls or bachelors, separate Zapadni Keef from Tolstoi sands. 

14. Maruuichen {personal name). — A small rookery on the north shore, long since 
abandoned. 

15. Bobrori. — On Otter Island, 6 miles to the south of St. Paul, the bachelors often 
haul out. This year a single breeding harem was found there. 

ST. GEORGE. 

The rookeries on St. George are much smaller than the larger ones of St. Paul and 
less varied in character, lying mostly along broken cliffs, basaltic columns, and 
bowlder-strewn slopes. These are the following, beginning with the southwest: 

1. Zapadni. — On the southwest shore, at Zapadni Bay, on the rocky beach and the 
ascending rocky benches of a low hill. 

2. Starajia Artil {old camp). — A very picturesque rookery, ascending the even 
slope of a long hill, close to the edge of a considerable cliff'. 

3. North {Serernoye). — A large rookery, along the north shore of the island, to the 
"west of the village of St. George. 

4. Little East. — A very small rookery, just east of St. George village, on a bowlder- 
strewn slope. 

5. East. — A larger rookery, scattered along the eastern part of the north shore of 
the island. 

VII. CENSUS OP THE ROOKERIES. 

A PHYSICAL IMPOSSIBILITY. 

In the general report the details of our attempt at a census of the seal rookeries 
will be given. It is sufficient to say that a complete and accurate census is a phys- 
ical impossibility. Any approach to it would have been imiiossible before the present 
depleted condition of the rookeries was reached. 

THE SOLE ACCURATE BASIS. 

The only accurate basis of computation is a count of pups. For many reasons 
this is very diflicult to make, and on the larger rookeries it could only be successful 
at the risk of smothering and trampling many of them. Any count of pups is 
possible only during a short period, from abont the 10th to the 20th of August. 
Before the former date the rookeries can not be entered for this purpose on account 
of the resistance of the bulls. After the latter date the pups have learned to swim 
■well, a large percentage are in the water all the time, and many wander to great 
distances away from the rookery. 

COUNTING OF LIVE PUPS. 

The live pups have been counted on Kitovi, Lagoon, Zapadni, Reef, Tolstoi cliffs, 
Polovina cliffs, Ardiguen, parts of Vostochni and Morjovi, and on Little East 
rookery of St. George. 



16 



COUNT OF COWS. 

The cows were counted at the height of the season on these and several other 
rookeries. 

COUNT OF HAREMS AND DEAD ITl'S. 

Tlio number of hulls in charge of harems, the trampled pups, and the starved 
pups have lieen couuteil on all the rookeries. 

Comhiuing all these and other data we have the basis for an approximate census 
of the number of breeding seals for the present season on the two islands. The 
census in detail is given below. To the total number of breeding cows, if correct, 
the number of pups born would exactly correspond. 

Tlic tirst two columns in the table represent the estimate based upon the count of 
cows and harems made in what is known as the height of the season. The count of 
live pups afterwards made on certain rookeries and parts of rookeries showed them 
to exceed the original number of cows counted upon these same rookeries by 75 per 
cent. The totals, therefore, for the various rookeries in the last column have been 
corrected to correspoiul with the actual facts. 

The figures here given represent under rather than over estimates, as the numbers 
missed in actual count are greater tlian the possible duplications. The same remark 
applies to the counts of the trampled and the starved pups. 

Sniiunary of hreeding seals (counts and estimates). 



Eookery. 



Harems. 



Cows Actual 
(count). I total. 



ST. PAUL. 

Kitovi 

Lukaniu 

Lagoon 

Tolstoi (iBaiu) 

Tolstoi (cliffs) 

Za])a(lni 

Little Zapadni 

Zapailiii Reef 

CTorl)atcli 

Ardinuen 

Eeef! 

Sivutch Roclv 

Polovina (main) 

Polovina (cliffs) 

Poloviua (little) 

Vostochni 

Morjo vi 

Total 

ST. GEORGE 

North 

Little East 

East 

Zapadni 

Staraya Artil 

Total 

Grand total 



182 


3, 152 


6,049 


U7 


2, 543 


4, 4."iO 


120 


1,474 


2. 4.S4 


,S89 


6,729 


11, 775 


108 


1.498 


2,664 


583 


10, 085 


17,648 


210 


2,400 


4,200 


176 


2,256 


3,862 


ii02 


5,224 


9, 142 


27 


550 


652 


504 


8,719 1 


15,258 


(33 


1, 090 1 


1,907 


138 


2,387 


4,177 


86 


1,268 


2,496 


45 


779 


1,363 


975 


15, 879 


27, 148 


293 


4, 328 


7,773 



4,348 


70,361 


123, 048 


225 


i 
3,891 


6,809 


44 


701 


1,350 


135 


2, 335 


4,086 


182 


3,148 


5,509 


75 


1,297 


2,269 


661 


11,432 


20,023 



5,009 



81,793 143,071 



Bobrovi (Otter Island) had 1 harem, containing 5 cows and 5 pups. 



TOTAL NUMBER OF FUR SEALS. 

To obtain the total number of seals on the islands during the present summer we 
should add to the 143,071 breeding cows an equal number of jnips born, 5,009 active 
and 2,996 reserve bulls, making a total of 294,141. These animals are, of course, not 
all alive at the end of the season. The numbers have been reduced by the loss of 
trami^led and starved pups and by the loss of mothers killed at sea. 

Thus far the census has some claim to accuracy; but there are no trustworthy data 
obtainable for the number of yearlings, male or female; none for the virgin 2-year- 
olds, and none for the spared or rejected bachelors, 2-year-olds, 3-year-olds, and 
half bulls. We have no data for estimating the losses suffered by the pups in 
their first winter at sea. We know little of the enemies they encounter. The 



17 

great Killer {Orca orca) is the only auiiiial certainly known to devonr pnps at sea. 
For abont ten days in the later part of September and the early part of Octol)er 
schools of these fei-ooions animals (miscalled "whales") uuml)ering 3 to 7 daily 
were seen patrolling the shore waters of St. Paul and St. George. That they were 
feeding largely upon the swinuuing pups and seals was plainly shown by the flock 
of gulls which constantly hovered over or lighted in their wake. The mangled car- 
casses of one pup and one cow were washed ashore, but no estimate can be made of 
the numl>er actually killed liy tlieni. 

Of the destruction from other enemies we know less. It is not, however, likely 
that any considerable number are destroyed by sharks, and but one species of shark 
capable of injuring them is known from the North Faciflc. This is the mackerel 
shark, or porbeagle, called salmon shark at Kadiak (Lamiia cornubica). We can 
only guess as to whether one-half, two-thirds, or three-fourths of the pups survive 
the tirst winter. The number of 3-year-olds is probably a little more than one-third 
of the pups born three years ago. No count of yearliuns, male or female, Avill ever 
be i>08silile. The sole factor, however, essential to a consideration of the mainten- 
ance of the herd is the number of breeding females, and the figures regarding these 
are fairly accurate. For those who insist upon an estimate of totals for all classes of 
seals the following figures are submitted for the two islands: 

SEALS OF ALL CLASSES AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER ON THE ISLANDS OF ST. PAUL 
AND ST. GEORGE, SEASON OF 1896. 

Breeding females 143, 071 

Pups born 143, 071 

Active bulls 5, 009 

Eescrve Inills 2, 996 

Half bulls 5, 000 

Four-year-old males 10, 000 

Thrce'-year-old males 15, 000 to 20, 000 

Three-year-old females 15, 000 to 20, 000 

Tw-o-year old males 20, 000 to 30, 000 

Two-year-old females 20,000 to 30, 000 

Yearling males 25, 000 to 35, 000 

Yearling females 25, 000 to 35, 000 

Total 429, 147 to 479, 147 

SEALS KNOWN TO HAVE DIED ABOUT THE ISLANDS OP ST. PAUL AND ST. GEORGE 
FROM VARIOUS CAUSES, SEASON OF 1896. 

Cows found dead on rookeries 131 

Bulls 28 

Bachelors 3 

Pups, from trampling, drowning, straying, etc 11, 045 

Pups, from starvation 16, 019 

Bachelors (quota) 30, 000 

Pelagic catch 29, 398 

Total 86,624 

Total living during season 429, 147 to 479, 147 

Total dead during season 86, 624 to 86, 624 

Total alive October 15, 1896 342, 523 to 392, 523 

HISTORY OF THE PRIBILOF HERD. 

The size of the Pribilof Islands herd, according to the statement of the Aleuts, 
reached its lowest point some fifty or more years ago at the time of a great ice jam, 
in which many thousands of seals were drowned while attempting to climb the inac- 
cessible bergs and floes. Df the condition of the herd in Russian times we have not 
a clear record. When the herd passed from Russian to American control in 1808 it 
was in good condition and was rapidly increasing. In the interregnum many bache- 
lors were slaughtered by raiders, but the females were spared, as heretofore. Until 
1872 and perhaps a few years after the herd continued to increase. During the 
period from 1872 to 1878 it doubtless remained practically in a state of equilibrium 
under the various checks acting upon it, of which the trampling of pups was the 
chief, the Northwest catch, which remained stationary at aliout 5,000 during these 
years, being another element of check. In 1878 the Northwest catch increased to 
8,000, in 1881 to 10,000, the following year to 15,000, and in 1883 to 16,000. About 
7423 2 



18 

this year the sealers entered Bering Sea. It is j)r()bable that with the doubling of 
the Northwest catch in 1881, which, in addition to the loss ol" mothers it involved, 
would jirodiice an increased sccoiidnry loss in IXFA by the failure of a ceitiiin num- 
ber of the j)ii|ts of I.SSI to r<!turn as breedcis, the declines of the herd bcj^aii. lu 
188G the Noitlnvcst catch fell Irom 21,000 to 13,000, but the liering .Sea ciitch rose 
suddenly to 1-1,000. 

DKCLINE OF THE HERD. 

From this time on the decline was more rapid ;ind has been continuous, though 
there is evidence thiit the modus vivendi of ISi)2-y3, by which Bering Sea was 
closed to the sealing lleet, liiis produced for ISO') and 1896 a slight check of the 
diminution, 'i'he reason for this is that in addition to the saving of mothers, no 
pu]»8 were starved to death in 1802 or 1893, and those which might ha\e been starved 
ha\ e returned as Itreeders or as killable seals in 189;") and 1^90. The cessation of 
laud killing which took place at the same time has produced only harm to the herd 
by the needless augmentation of tlu; number of G and 7 year old bulls \\hich now 
struggle in vain to enter the rookeries at the height of the sciison. There has never 
been a time since 1870 at least when the cessation of land killing could have been 
helpful to the herd on the Fribilofs. 

KILLA15LE .SEALS ONLY NOTICED BY MOST OBSKIiVEHS. 

The facts and dates aliove given can only be a]iproxinuitely stated. In p.ist times 
the interest of all persons concerned has centered in the number of kilhible seals, 
while the condition and numbers of the breeding females have received little atten- 
tion. Almost every account of the diminution of numbers is based on the fewness 
of bachelors or on the deserted coiulition of the grats grown hauling grounds. 
Decrease in numbers of killable seals is n()t a cause in itself. It does not appear till 
the cause has passed. For example, the killable seals in 1896 are largely the pups of 
1893, and their nundier depends on the conditions suirounding the females of that 
year. If these pups were killed as 2-year-olds in 1895, the hauling grounds would 
be empty in 1S96, even though there were no deciease ol' females. The number of 
killable seals was probal)ly fewer in 1890 than at any ])eriod before or since. This is 
due in part to the losses from pelagic .sealing, but primarily to the fact that the nat- 
ural bachelor (jnota of that year had been taken in 18S9 or even in 1888. But this 
fact in itself did not indicate diminution of the breeding herd — only the premature 
gathering of its marketable increment. 

We have explicit records of tlie number of bachelors killed year by year, and of 
the dates at which it was possible each year to fill the quota. But of the numbers 
of females and pups we have until 189.5 no exact records whatever. 

DISTRIBUTION OF SEALS ON ROOKERIE.S. 

In general, the greater the numlier of females the more extended are the bounds of 
the rookeries in the height of the season. This general rule can not be used for exact 
computation of numbers, because the rookeries often grow sparse as the seals dimin- 
ish in numbers witliout material change in dimensions. ^loreover, in all cases, at 
least at the present time,** the seals are very unevenly distributed, their arrangement 
being as unequal as that of trees in a forest. On some rookeries, as on Tolstoi sands 
at the height of the season, the .seals lie thick as swarms of bees, almost all the sur- 
face being covered and each adult seal being restricted to about 12 square feet (11,775 
cows estimated on about 140,000 square feet of surface). On other rookeries, as the 
Lagoon, detached harems sprawl over the rocks and each seal has upward of 35 t 
8([uare feet. Between these every intermediate condition may be found, and the 
attempt to establish an average acreage of breeding seals is the continuous multipli- 
cation of estimates by assumptions. In some cases errors may be madt; to balance 
errors. Where errors do not balance each other comes the curious result that the 
most accurate estimate is that farthest from the truth. 

ELLIOTT'S CENSUS OF FUR SEALSt 

The first serious attempt to estimate the number of seals on the Pribilof Islands 
is that of Mr. Henry W. Elliott in 187-1. Mr. Elliott recognized tirst the important 
fact that "the mother seals are coming an<l going," while the pups, remaining near 

' According to Mr. Elliott, they were everywhere as close together as they could 
lie in 1871. 

t Sixty-live square feet, according to Messrs. True and Townsend, but their count 
was made when about half the females were absent. 



19 

their birthplace, furnisli the only "sure guide to the whole uumber of seals on the 
rookeries." 

Assuiiiiug the supposed hiw that tlie rookeries arc always equally crowdi'd every- 
where in the heiglit of the season, and estimating 2 square feet on the average 
for each seal, old and young, he finds on the two islands t3,3S6,8lO feet of rookery 
space, representing a. total of 3,193,420 breeding seals and pups, or about a million 
breeding females. 

This estimate, while containing many elements of error, and, in our judgment; 
nearly 70 per cent too high, is still not so far out of the way as it ajjjjears at first 
sight! It is certainly true tliat a cow occupies ordinarily more than 3 square feet 
and a pup more th.in 1. On the other hand, Mr. Elliott is right in saying that in a 
few days or a week after the birth of the pup "the cow takes to the water to 
wash and feed, and is not back on this allotted space one-half the time again dur- 
ing the season." Some other cow returning occupies the 3 feet allotted to her. 
Even in the height of the season the population of the rookeries is constantly 
changing, the earlier cows being away before the new ones come, and the real size 
of a harem being nearly doul>le the largest number of cows counted. Besides this, 
the return of the virgin females and belated females in late July greatly extends 
the rookery space itself beyond the outlines taken in these measurements. In 1890 
Mr. Elliott found 1,818,786 square feet of breeding space on the two islands. This 
was supposed to represent a total of 9.59,393 breeding seals and pups. It would 
appear that the rookeries were less exactly measured than in 1874, as an allowance 
by estimate was made on each one on account of the thinning out of the seals. In 
any event, in spite of the fact that there were at least half more seals in 1890 than 
in 1895, the estimates of acreage made by ^Messrs. Townsend and True give for 1895 
2,G16,0()o sqnare feet. This would give about 74^ square feet each for 160,000 seals 
with their pujts and 30,000 virgin two-year-olds. 

We can not believe that even in the most favorable times the fur seals were evenly 
crowded over the rookeries, and it is evident that as they grow fewer their arrange- 
ment tends to become more sparse, especially on rocky slopes and bowlder-strewn 
beaches. 

Acreage estimates can only serve us in default of better, but it is fair to early 
observers to remember that no other method of enumeration was possible on a 
large scale until very lately. 

DIFFICULTIES IN MEASURING ACREAGE. 

It is by no means an easy task to find the acreage of any rookery. The length of 
its sea front is easily ascertained, but its average width is at the best a matter of con- 
jecture. It will spread out over level ground, shrink away from soft sand, climb up 
the hill in gullies, extend high over cliffs, break at a cove to permit bachelors to 
laud, thin out among largi' rocks, then widen in great amphitheaters. Its lower 
boundary Huctuates with the tides. Its extent behind grows day by day with the 
arrival of late coming seals, and its whole outline is changed in a few days, as the 
bands of virgin 2- year-olds come into the ranks late in .Inly. A comparison of the dif- 
ferent estimates of the number of square feet on the individual rookeries which have 
been already published will show how large these elements of uncertainty are. A 
few feet added to the width of any rookery means the addition of thousands of seals 
to the estimate. 

ESTIMATES OF TRUE AND TOWNSEND. 

The most recent computation of the acreage of seals is that made by Messrs. True 
and Townsend in 1895. Here the number of square feet is measured from the cur- 
rent maps, on which the outline of the rookeries has been sl^etched by the aid of the 
eye. But the details of the maps were not exactly surveyed and the outlines of 
the rookeries could not be. 

VARIATIONS IX ROOKERY OUTLINES. 

An element of uncertainty which enters into all estimates based upon observa- 
tion and comjiarison withovit exact enumeration is the fact that there is no line of 
demarcation to show the outer limit of any rookery. The ground for a considerable 
distance back of the line of harems presents exactly the same appearance as the 
space occupied by the seals. If there occurs a change of a few feet or yards in the 
extent of the rookery, it is imjjossible for the eye to detect it. Nor can the vacant 
space back of the rookeries be relied upon to indicate a decrease of territory occupied 
by the seals. As a matter of fact, after the period of coniusion consequent upon the 
arrival of the virgin cows, the depaituie of the old harem masters, and the ingress 
of the half bulls, the rookeries gradually assume another lixed phase. The cows 



20 

aiiil pups draw hack to the liiglicr jfroinuls, oltentinies Icaviiij^ entirely bare the 
space originally occnpifcl. The general form of the nev>- arrannenieut corresponds 
roughly to that of the old, and remains eonstaut ilnring 8('pteni)>er and October. 
Keef rookery, which was pai tienlai'ly observed in this rc;;:ird, showed on September 
8 the cows and jmps drawn back so th.it the line oi' 'I'ownsend's crosses,* none of 
which had lieen icachtMl in the breediiij; seiison, formed the center line of the mass. 
Thongh all the cows and ])nps of this rookery w'ere driven oil' at least three times in 
the last week of September, they resumed their old position so exactly, that the eye 
could delect no ditVercnce in the arrangement. This position, jiractically unchanged, 
they occupied on the date of th<' last observation, Octoiier 22. It would doubtless 
only be broki'U up Avith the tinal do]);irture of the cows and pups in November. 
This baekwar<l movement effectually obscures any line oi' demarcation that might be 
formed in the breeding season, and there is nothing to guide the eye in determining 
the difference in location, if imy, between the rookeries of one year and of the next. 
For this reason, faithinl as the work of the observer au<l nuip maker may be, it can 
not be made exact. 

HALF THE cows ONLY PRESEXT AT ANY ONE TIME. 

Furthermore, it is now known that definite and relatively constant as are the 
boundaries of the rookeries at the height of the season, the nunilier of cows then 
found is not the uuml)er of l)veeding si-als. At no time in the year are more than 
about one-half the breeding seals ]u-esent on the rookeries at once. This is shown 
by the fact that the number of ]uii;s on any rookery is nearly double the greatest 
number of females counted on it at any one time. The yearlings and virgin two-year- 
olds do not come to the islands until after the rookeries have passed their ]:eriod of 
greatest compactness, and none were present at the time of the counts made in 1895. 

COUNT OF PUPS. 

Until this year it had been regarded as impossible to test these counts and esti- 
mates l)y an actual count of the pups. The finding of 6.049 pups on Kitovi rook- 
ery, while the maximum innnber of cows in the height of the season was but 3,152, 
shows that the number of cows arriving late is much greater than had been sup- 
posed. Examination of other rookeries shows the necessity of adding 75 per cent to 
the count of females to include these absentees. 

ESTIMATES FOR 1895. 

The investigators for 1895 have estimated the number of breeding cows on the 
rookeries at any one time in the height of the season as 70,423 for the two islands. 
This estimate is not far from correct and is probably slightly below the truth. There 
are two reasons for thinking that it is an underestimate. First, the count was made 
a little early, when " the rookeries may not have quite reached their breeding height." 
At Lagoon rookery, for example, all the harems counted were visible from the boat 
in Village Cove. Later in the season we found some twenty or more harems on the 
inner side of the ridge of rocks and out of sight from the waters of the Cove. These 
were doubtless overlooked in 1895. Second, the estimate that the massed rookeries, 
as Tolstoi, ■\^ostoc,hni, are but twice as densely ])opulated as Lnkauin and Kitovi, is 
probably incorrect. A count of dead bodies on Polovina killing grounds shows an 
average of 13 J square feet to each body. On Ardiguen rookery an isolated harem 
of 33 cows was noted, and its boundaries marked from a distance by stones which 
circumscribed it. When the seals were absent at the time of the count of starved 
pu]is, in September, this space was carefully measured, and showed an average of 8 
square feet for each seal. Where seals are massed on rookeries, the space occupied 
by each seal is more nearly 12 than 23 s<iuare feet. The estimate, therefore, of 23 
square feet is too high, and consequently the number of seals based upon it is too 
low for the massed portions of the rookeries, even if 46 S(iuare feet, which, as a mat- 
ter of fact, is doubtless also too low, be taken for the other estimate. 

Accepting the figures of last year, 70,423 cows on the rookeries would mean an 
aggregate of 123,240 breeding coVs. To this number nnist be added 25,000 to 40.000 
virgin two-year-olds and as many yearlings to form an estimate of the actual nnm- 
ber'of cows' for 1895. That the figures given by us for 1896 are sligntly higher than 
those for 1895 does not mean an increase in numbers since 1895, but simply an increase 
in the data on which an estimate may be made. Messrs. True and Townsend, for 
example, count 2,640 cows on Kitovi rookery. This count is the most important 

* The white crosses were painted in 1895 on rocks marking the backward extension 
of the large masses of seals on the various rookeries at about the middle of July. 



21 

eleiueut in their estimate b}' acreage. In this estimate, Kitovi is given credit for 3f 
per cent of the total number of seals (70,423). This tigiire can not be far from the 
truth. But the faet that, in 1896, in sjjite of some shrinkage, Kitovi shows 6,049 
pups, demonstrates that the figures based on counts made at the height of the season 
are far from complete. 6,049 is 3J per cent of 161,060. 

ACREAGE ESTIMATES AND PHOTOGRAPHS UNSATISFACTORY. 

For reasons above indicated, we have been unable to accept estimates of acreage 
of rookeries or the testimony of maps as indicating with exactness the amount of 
decrease. Scries of photographs taken from year to year show clearly the fact of de- 
crease, but give no exact data as to its amount. The photograjihs examined by us 
go back only to 1892. Those taken later in the year than .luly 20 are of little value 
for com])arison, for after that date the outlines of the rookeries chiinge from day to 
day. ^loreover, tliere is no assurance tliat photographs taken tlie same date on 
successive years show the same or relative conditions, as the arrival of the seals and 
doubtless their movements on the rookeries are atfected by the state of the weather 
and the advancement of the season.' 

TOWNSEND'S CROSSES. 

The most definite evidence of decline since 1895 lies in this fact that in that year 
Mr. Townseud ]iaiuted a white cross on a roclv at the head of each of the large masses 
of breeding seals as located at the hs'ight of tlie season. In no case was any of these 
■.\'hite crosses reached at the corresponding period in 1896. This shows the fact of 
the diminution, but not the amount. 

DECREASE OF HAREMS. 

Another item of importance is this: In 189.5 Mr. Murray made a careful count of 
the number of harems of the two islands, finding 5,000 in all. At the same period in 
1896 he found th;\t the number of harems was reduced to 4,853, a loss of 3.' per cent, 
the number of bulls without harems having increased 7 percent. As the same influ- 
ence which lowered the number of harems would tend to make them also individu- 
ally smaller, this might mean a decrease of 3-7 times 3i per cent, or nearly 10 percent 
since 1895. But as to this there can be no certainty. An estimate of the decrease in 
the number of pujis born in 1896 as compared with 1895 may lie between 3 and 10 per 
cent, but can not be made more exact by any data in our possession. 

ELEMENTS OF CHANGE IN THE HERD. 

The changes in the breeding herd from year to year lie in the following elements: 

1. The addition of the 3-yeai"-old females who bear their first pups. 

2. The loss of females killed at sea in the previous fall, those killed in the spring, 
those killed by the bulls, and those destroyed by natural causes. Keeping these 
elements in mind, we may attempt a comparison between the breeding herds of 1895 
and those of 1896. 

In 1896, 30,000 killable males were taken, 22,000 of these, to the best of our infor- 
mation, being 3-year-olds. Some 2,000 or 3,000 more of these are left, while nearly 
as many more were killed in 1895 as "long" 2-year-old8. Of male pups born in 1893, 
therefore, about 26,000 survived till they became killable. As many 3-year-old 
females entered the rookeries to bear their first pups in 1896. These numbers repre- 
sent something less than a third of the pups born in 1893. 

A tabulation of the gains and losses from 1895 to 1896 would then run as follows: 

Gains : 3-year-old females bearing their first pup (about) 26, 000 

Losses : 

aFemales killed at sea, August, 1895 (about) 23, 000 

b Females killed at sea, April, 1896 (about) 8, 000 

c Females shot at sea and lost, unrecorded (about) 5, 000 

dFemales killed by bulls, 1896 130 

e Females lost at sea by natural causes, unrecorded (about) 10, 000 

Total 46,130 

Estimated net loss for 1896, 12^ per cent of total breeding cows 20, 130 

The uncertaintj' of each of these elements, and especially of c and e, leaves the cal- 
culation almost valueless. 



22 

KSTIMATKS KltOM QUOTA OV IJACHKLOHS. 

Perhaps the ln-st basis lor an estiiiiate of the total decline of the rookeries since 
1880 is ionnd in the simple fa<t that in 1883 it was as easy to get 100,000 accei)table 
skins of the sizes now taken as it was this year to >^et 25,000, or 30,000 at the most. 
This wonld indicate that the nnniber of breedinj>- females was at least fonr times as 
great in 1880 as in 1893. This is probably not very far from the trnth, altlionj;h bnt 
little dependence can be ]ilaced on it. The last kil]iu<;s were then nsnally over by 
the L'Otli of ,inly.* The last killing for 18'j6 to complete the quota of 30,000 was 
made on July 27. 

PROPHECY. 

Prophecy as to the future is even more uncertain than estinuxtes of the past. If a 
count of pups should be made on Kitovi rookery about August 15, 1897, the variation 
in numljers from 6,049 will serve as a fair index to the change in the number of breed- 
ing cows. It is most important that an accurate count should be made of this rookery 
each year in the future. The percentage of change on both islands will not vary far 
from tluit found on Kitovi. Tlie reopening of Bering Sea to pelagic sealing in 1894 
ought in 1897 to show itself in a reduction of the number of 3-year-old breeding 
cows and in the number of killal)le males on all the rookeries. This loss ditfused. 
over the whole islands will not, however, lie very conspicuous on any one rookery. 
Great as the waste through pelagic sealing has been, it is to be remembered that the 
islands still contain a vast body of seals. To the eye .5,000 seals scattered among 
the rocks seem almo. t as many as 10,000. There is still a strong nucleus of the 
Pribilof herd left, and this will take care of itself when no longer wasted by the 
slaughter of gravid and nursing cows. Protection at sea would in a comi>aratively 
few years restore the herd to its highest condition. Nor need it find in the numbers 
of 1880 its highest limit of expansion. The rookeries can be improved and extended 
by artificial means. The trampling of pups by bulls could be greatly checked, or 
even almost eliminated, by piling rocks in the death traps. On Zapadni Kookery, 
of St. Paul, a beginning was made this fall by filling in with loose stones the beds of 
the two gullies which furnished such a large proportion of tlie dead jtups of this 
rookery. Instructions have been given to have the sand flat of Tolstoi covered with 
rocks. This is by far the worst of the death traps. Tolstoi is white with bones of 
trampled pups, accumulated for centuries. There is no evident reason, no females 
being killed, why the hauling grounds should not furnish even 200,00i' killable males 
each year. 

ESTIMATES OF PAST CONDITIONS. 

If there are on the Pribilof Islands 143,071 breeding females, or a total number of 
about 440,000 of seals of all grades, there may have been in 1895, 155,000 breeding 
seals, or a total of 475,000. In 1890 possibly 280,000 breeding females, or a total of 
600,000, the percentage of young males l>eing in that year unusually low, and in 1880, 
600,000 breeding females, 1,500,000 of all grades collectively. 

In our judgment these estimates have very little value, but no better ones are 
possible. It is certain, however, that the seal herd was never "ten times'' nor 
seven times its present size. 

VIII. BREEDING HABITS OF THE FUR SEAL. 

ALL COME TO THE ISLANDS. 

So far as known, every in<lividual fur seal visits the islands in the course of the 
summer. The youngest come latest, and in general all categories remain until driven 
away by the winter storuis in November. 

THE BULL. 

The male fur seal is capable of procreation, in some cases at least, at the age of 
three years. He is not, however, permitted by his seniors to take charge of a harem 
in the height of the season until he is about seven years old. The adult males arrive 
on the islands as soon as the ice leaves in the spring (in April or early May). They 

'^The log book of the island gives the following dates for the completion of the 
quota: 1871, .Jnlv 28; 1872, .lulv 25; 1873, July 24; 1874. .lulv 17; 1875, .Inly 22; 
1876, August 2; 1877, July 14; 1878, July 18; 1879, July 16; 18><0, July 17; 1881, July 
20; 1882, July 20; 1883, .July 19; 1884, July 21; 1885, July 27; 1886, July 26; 1887, 
July 24; 1888, July 27; 1889, July 31; 189.5, July 27; 1896, Julv 27. 



23 

take up their positions and await the arrival of the females, which event is accom- 
panied by constant tightiug among the males. The earliest cows appear the tirst 
week in .June. Thfey come on land but a short time before the delivery of their pups. 
After delivery the females are held in the harems by the bulls until after impregna- 
tion, when they go to sea to feed, returning at intervals to nurse their young. 

THE cows. 

The cows do not come in all at once. The period of their arrival, and consequently 
of the birth of pupa, extends from early iu .June until the middle of August, with 
probably scattering births as late as the tirst week iu September. The female tirst 
comes in heat at the age of two years. The virgin * two-year-olds come to the islands 
late, few, if any, before the last week iu .July. They are not found on the rookeries 
at the height of the season. In the last week of July and the tirst week of August 
they are gathered with late-coming adult cows in harems outside of the rookery 
proper; most of tliem behind it. These harems are usually in charge of young bulls, 
and have not the stability of the adult harems, as most of the young cows do not 
remain after impregnation and their places are taken by others. 

GESTATION. 

The period of gestation is about three hundred and lifty-five days, or a little less 
than a year. For virgin females it is without doubt somewhat shorter, as none of 
these are impregnated before the 25th of .July. The uterus has two horns or branches, 
one to the right, the other to the left, and the single pup is born in one of these horns. 
Soon alter parturition, apparently within a week, the ovary of the op])osite side 
matures an ovule, the cow conies in heat, and is covered by the bnll. The second 
pup is thus developed in the other horn of the uterus. While the tirst horn is recov- 
ering from gestation and parturition the second is made ready for gestation. For 
the rest of the life of the animal a pup is Ijorne each jear on alternating sides. 

The development of the fo'tus is at iirst very slow, as it remains minute during 
the whole period of lactation. Nothing is known of its growth in the winter. At 
the time of birth in June or .July the pup is large and far advanced in develoiuuent 
as compared with the young of most mammals. Its weight at birth is from 9 to 12 
pounds, and it is very soon able to tind its way al)ont the rookeries. We can only 
conjecture as to the age attained by fur seals — possibly 10 to 15 years for females and 
15 to 20 for males, but this is a guess only. There is no reason to l)elieve that either 
males or females outlive the power of procreation. The oldest female recorded, 
judging age by the wear of the teeth, was in milk when speared. There is no doubt 
that all female fur seals lireed annually, and no reason to think that any cow in heat 
escapes impregnation. Mr. Lucas tiuds on examination of the ovaries of many cows 
killed at sea thiit in each case examined impregnation has taken place on tirst com- 
ing iu heat. To this there are probably very few exceptions. These would appear 
the next year as late-born pujis of adult mothers. 

SCARS ON THE OVARY. 

Whether a cow is impregnated or not, can be determined by the scar in the ovary. 
As to this we quote the following from notes of Mr. Lucns: 

"As it may naturally be asked. What reason is there for supposing the scar on the 
ovary to be the scar of impregnation and not merely the rupture of a Graafian follicle ? 
it may be answered that — 

"Of the 190 ovaries examined by Mr. Townsend, Mr. IJarrett-Hamilton, and myself, 
in only one case did an ovary bear more than a single scar, and in this case the second 
scar was faint. 

"In specimens obtained early in September the ovarian scar and the corresponding 
branch of the uterus had increased in size, showing clearly that impregnation had 
taken place, and it is not assuming too much to say that in the fur seal ovulation is 
l^ractically synonymous with impregnation. That this should be so is not surprising 
when the facts in the case are considered. 

"In the first place, a female after entering into a harem is held there until the bull 
is satisfied he may properly allow her to leave, while back of the harem and in the 
water in front are idle bulls watching for stray females. 

"Finally, when the harem system is relaxed there is an influx of young bulls, who 
before this time could not enter the rookeries, and if every female were not impreg- 
nated they would be likely to discover the fact." 

*The categories of ftir seals here called virgin two-year-olds and virgin yearlings 
were shown to be such by the killing and dissection of individuals, the two-year-olds 
from the small harems behind the Keef rookery, the yearlings from the bachelor 
herd of Lukanin ; still others were lassoed for examination and released. 



24 

DU. SLUNIN's TIIKOKIK8. 

Mv. Lucas further notes: " From the t'Xiiiuination of a large series (200) of oviiries 
it cau safely be said that tliere is nothing whatever to corroboriite Dr. Sluuin's state- 
ment that it is possible to determine from th(! appearance of the ovaries how many 
young a cow has borne. The surface of the ovary does not bear scars corresponding 
in uumber to that of the pups, for not more than two scars, and this very exception- 
ally (3 cases in 200), are present on an ovary at one time. The scar of imjjregnation, 
corpus Inteiim, develops very slowly and slowly disappears, a cross section of the 
ovary revealing its preseuce long after all traces have dis;ip])e;n-ed from the surface. 
Dr. Slunin, it is stated, examined the ovaries in alcohol, .-iiid he i)robably mistook 
the slight depressions caused by the shrinkage of the Graalian follicles for scars. 
A section of the non functional ovary shows it to be a fine-grained, homogeneous 
mass with no developing fo'licle, while the ovary which is for the season functional 
may have as many as eight Graafian follicles in various stages of development. 
There has not yet been tim(> to carefully examine the ovaries bearing two scars, but it 
may safely be set down as a general rule that the first ovum to reach maturity is 
fecundated, so that to repeat the statement made above, ovnlatif^u and impregnation 
are practically synonymous." 

COPULATION. 

There is no reason to think that the serving of cows in the ordinary harem causes 
any serious drain on the vitality of the bull. A. bull has been observed by Mr. True 
to copulate twice within half an hour. The season during which his services may 
be re(]uired extends over a period of fully sixty days. 

In copulation the male assumes the position usual in dogs and related animals. 
The female lies i)rone u]>on the grouiul aud bears his clumsy weight. It is not likely 
that copulation takes place elsewhere than on the islands, and never at sea except 
occasionally on rocks awash off the shor('. Here young bulls sometimes secure young 
females in heat, and impregnate them without leaving the water. It is possible that 
copulation begun on a rock might continue even after the rising water floated the 
animals off. A case of this kind is recorded by Mr. True, but none was seen l)y us. 
As the virgins do not appear on the rookeries before the last of .July, there is not 
much doubt that the first period of gestation is somewhat shorter than the others, 
those coming in heat early in August bearing pups early in .July. 8u(di a difference 
is found in horses. I am indebted to Mr. Frank \V. Covey, of Palo Alto, for statistics 
showing that with ten virgin mares the period of gestation varies from 328 to 344 
days, the average being 336.8; with ten adult mares, the range is 332 to 360, the 
average 347.8. 

The first puji noticed on St. Paul the present season was seen on Keef Rookery 
June 14. It was then apparently several days ohl. The last birth witnessed was on 
Zapadni Rookery August 14. No record of early instances of copulation was made. 
The first case witnessed by us was on North Rookery of St. George July 9. The last 
instance of copulation seen was on Tolstoi Rookery, St. Paul, August 27. 

BEIiATED IMPREGNATION. 

•It is evident, also, from the actions of the old bulls, a certain percentage of whom 
return in September to their places on the breeding grounds after feeding, that 
should any cow fail to be served in June, July, or August she would hud service even 
in September. Fhat such belated service sometimes occurs is borne out by the fact 
that sev»'ral hundred small black pn]is were noted in October on the rookeries of St. 
Paul. One of these, killed on October 1-8, was found in good condition and with 
stomach full of milk. It weighed 14^ pounds. An unl)orn foetus, taken from a cow 
on Zapadni Reef August 14, weighed 11 pounds, and the experimental pup, taken 
from Zapadni rookery on August 1, supposed to be about a month old, weighed 12 
pounds. A gray pup, killed at the same time as the small black one, weighed 
29 pounds, and two weeks before a similar pup had been killed on the same rookery 
which weighed 331 jiounds. The little pup could not have been much over a month 
old, aud therefore must have been born in Se])tember. 

HEIGHT OF THE SEASON. 

The height of the season, or the period when the most pups are born and sex activity 
is greatest, is from July 6 to July 15. At this time the barems are held in rigid con- 
trol by the bulls, who are constantly "rounding up" their cows and crowding them 
close together. At this time, how^ever, only about half the adult cows and none of 
the 2-year-olds have arrived. When these have come, most of the earlier cows have 
gone away to feed. At no time, therefore, are much more than half the cows present 
on any given rookery, and the count of any individual harem can be only an approxi- 
mation. 



25 



OXE AT A BIRTH. 

There is uo aotlreiitic record of the birth of twins. It is not likely that it ever 
occurs. 

EQUALITY OF SEXES IN NUMBER. 

The sexes are approximately equal iu number. Of 658 pups examined as to sex 
33.5 were found to be males. For the first year males and females are alike iu form, 
size, and color. With the end of the first year the growth of the males is much more 
rapid, and th(? woight of the bull (300 to 400 pounds) is probably nearly five times 
that of the cow (80 pounds). 

IX. ALLEGED CHANGES OP HABITS. 

NO PO.SSIBILITY OF DltlVING SEALS ELSEWHKKE. 

No notable changes in the habits of the fur seal have resulted from any action of 
man. It is not possible for man to "drive away" the fur seals from any of their 
haunts except by killin.i;- them all. Tliere is no foundation for the idea that if the 
fiir seals are disturbed on one island or rookery they will go to some other. Their 
harem or rookery is their home, and to it they will return so long as tlie.v live, and 
the ordinary disturbances of man have ouly the slightest temporary effect on them. 

PHECAUTIOXS AGAINST DISTUiiBANCE. 

The precautious against wanton invasion of the rookeries by the natives or by 
casual visitors are well enough in themselves, but have been carried to absurd 
lengths, as in the prohibition of smoking or the use of nailed shoes on the rocks, 
and the like, in force now on the Commander Islands. For such intrusions or dis- 
turbances a herd of seals care no more than a tloLk of sheep would do. 

FOOLISH FEARS. 

The scientific observers of previous years have often been hindered in accomplish- 
ing their mission by foolish fears " of overzealous officers that their studies might 
cause the seals to take fright, and perhaps to leave the islands altogether 

If proper observations of the rookeries themselves had been permitted in earlier 
years, the great and usidess loss of pups trauipled in the "death-traps" of Tolstoi, 
Zapadui, and other rookeries might have been di8co^ ered and checked. 

In the log books of the islands we find such enfries as these: 

"August J8, lS7i>. — * * * Conijilaint has been urged (by the natives) against 
the disturbance of the rookeiics in getting specimens for Dr. White. * * * 

"June 11, 1S91. — It is a plain fact that the hauling grounds are yielding four times 
as many seals as were taken last year on the same dates. * * * We think that 
the constant and persistent running over the rookeries of Elliott last year at this 
time may be charged with a large part of the falling off of seals driven. « * * 

" Xoremher 11, iS0'>. — Examination of Reef, Lukanin, Polovina, and Tolstoi rock- 
eries demonstrates the fact that the seals there are mixed bachelors, pups, and cows 
together, well hauled back from the water— a condition which, I am told, has never 
existed before to such an extent. The seals seem restless. * * * Whether this is 
due to the constant disturbance during the summer or breeding season (1895) — they 
being constantly subject to daily scientific and photographic investigation— can not 
be positively said, but I am of that opinion." * * * 

All these notions are without foundation in fact. In general they originate in 
suggestions of the Aleuts, whose ideas in matters of this kind are untrustworthy. 
These people have had no ex])erience of any kind with domestic animals. We learn 
from the log book that at one period the Re'ef, Kitovi, and Lukanin were culled over 
annually to get the winter supply of pup meat. The driving up of all the cows, 
bulls, and pu'ps on a rookery, and the sorting out of the male pups from tlie females 
(often done three times in succession on the same rookery within a week), to get the 
quota of 5,000 pups, was calculated to work more mischief than the properly con- 
ducted observations of a whole year. And yet no complaint was made, and appar- 
ently no evil effect was experienced from these disturlnuices. To the Aleuts these 
matters, with which they have been familiar all their lives, seem normal. The rest- 
lessness of the seals noted in 1895 was frequently observed by us, and found to be 
dependent upon the state of the weather. The mixed condition of the seals also noted 
was not peculiar to the year in question, but occurs every year with the end of 
August; and many entries in logs show that in previous years drives had to be post- 
poned for the same reason. 

* In justice to the present Treasury agents it should be said that in 1896 no effort 
was made to impede the work of investigation in any way on account of fear of its 
efi'ect on the seal herd. 



26 



INTKRFEUENCES FROiM KXAMINATION. 

lu tlu! work of the present snimner nii excellent opportunity was atlorded I'or 
observing- the ell'ect of interferences upon the herd. The rookeries were under con- 
stant inspection I'roni early in .Inly till late in Octoljer, and necessarily l're((uently 
visited. At the time of the counts of the dead pups of early Au<^ust and late Sep- 
tember it was necessary to drive the entire body of seals off to tiie hills or into tiie 
water. In Au,i;'U8t there was some tendency to stampede, and it was often an hour 
or more before the members of a herd would return and settle themselves again in 
their places. In September, however, they were reluctant to go from the rookeries, 
whatever the effort to move them. It was found in most cases even diflicult to drive 
them away at all. When driven away they resumed their places at once ; in some 
cases in the interval between driving oft" and the counting of the pups, necessitating 
their removal a second time. 

The bachelors are considered more timid than the other seals, and more likely to 
be affected by disturbance. They are, it is true, more easily fright(med off, but this 
is probably because they have no particular interest to hold them to oue place as 
have the bulls and cows. They are constantly driven during the season from haul- 
ing ground to killing ground, being culled over and si^nt back to the sea only to 
return and haul out on their favorite grounds a few hours or a few days later. This 
process has been going on year after year for ui)ward of half a century, abun- 
dantly showing that the treatment of the bachelors on the islands does not drive 
them away or change their habits. As for the breeding females and bulls, they are 
not disturbed when on the islands except for purposes of investigation, and no evil 
effects come from this cause. As soon as a scared fur seal comes to rest he becomes 
wholly indifferent as to matters of the past. When an idle bull was shot for scien- 
tific purposes, an event whiih occurred several times, his fellows would come about 
when the body was being skinned, sitting down on the sands at 3 or 4 rods distance, 
showing a sleex>y interest, but not the slightest trace of sympathy or fear, 

THE MORE VISITED THE BETTER, EXCEPT IX .TULY. 

In general the more frequently the seals are visited, except in the height of the 
breeding season, the better for the herd, as they become used to the presence of man. 
On the rookeries most visited by us — Ardiguen, Lukaniu, Kitovi — the animals paid 
least attention to our presence and showed least alarm or disturbance. In the height 
of the season any intrusion of man produces some confusion. This is mainly because 
the eftorts of the bulls to quiet their harems furnish a pretext for the invasion of the 
rookeries by the waiting or idle l)ulls. In these struggles the pups may be injured. 
But the stampedes or the ([uarrels of the seals are matters of slight imi)ortance, 
except as affecting the new-born pups. Nothing will stampede an adult bull in the 
height of the season. He is absolutely fearless, and he will not let his cows run awiiy. 

The following note, under date of August 1, is quoted from the daily journal of 
observations: 

"The bull is much ([uicker to detect the nature of the intruder than the cow, 
which fears man chielly when he is mo\'iug. A l)achelor seal can often be surprised 
when asleep, and the surprise is sometimes mutual, as a l)ig fellow starts up unex- 
pectedly from behind a rock and dashes away in great haste. If it is an old ))ull that 
is surprised, he will plunge at y- u ; but before he has gone 10 feet he will turn about 
to see what his cows are doing. Then you can getaway, for after he has once looked 
back he goes no farther. He will turn from an intruder to intercept the flight of his 
cows. This he does by snorting, growling, l)lowing out his musky breath, by seizing 
the cow and bending her neck backward to the ground, or by seizing her by the back 
and tossing her over his head. The cows are afraid to leave when the bull exhorts 
in this way. and during the ])eriod when tlie harems are well defined the cows are 
more afraid of the bull than of .-niy intruder. But after .July 20, when the cows have 
become impregnated, their fear of the bull passes away, and the older ones do as they 
please, running away when frightened. Later on the young cows also become more 
independent. W^hen a cow wa ts to go and the bull interposes, she bites him in the 
neck. For the most part he takes it patiently enough, though sometimes the fur 
comes away with the cow's sharp teeth." 

EFFECTS OF ODORS. 

It has been suggested that the smell of the decaying carcasses of the seals on the 
killing grounds is ofi'ensive to the seals and is likely to drive them away. In refer- 
ence to the odor itself, the following note, also taken from the journal of August 1, is 
pertinent: 

"As to the indifference of the seals to the smell of decaying flesh, it is to be remem- 
bered that flesh does not decay rapidly in the far north. A dead seal will remain 



27 

fairly fresh for a week, and the odor of the killing gronnd, with thousands of decay- 
ing carcasses upon it, is not usually noticeable to human beings a fourth of a mile 
away. Even at clo'sc range the smell is not putrid, but rather a ianyard-like smell 
of blubber and oil growing rancid. Under no circumstances is the strong putrid 
odor of southern latitudes to be detected. The rookeries liaA^e a strong musky smell 
of excrement and urine, much like the breath of the angry bulls, but, while strong, it 
is not very offensive." 

That the odor of the killing grouud has jjroduced no effect on the cows and 
bulls is clearly shown by the uninterrupted occupancy of Lagoon Eookery during all 
the time when the village killing ground, then the only killing grouud on the island, 
was situated just across the narrow channel forming the entrance to the lagoon, in 
plain sight and only a few hundred feet away. To-day one of the favorite hauling 
grounds of the bulls in August and Septeml)er, and a place freijuented during the 
entireseason by bachelors, is on Zolotoi sands, within a few hundred feet of the i)res- 
ent village killing ground. In the main the killing grouiuls are well away from the 
hauling grounds and rookeries, but there is no evidence to show that were they 
close it would have any effect on the actions of the seals. Late in the fall the odor 
from the earlier dead pups Itecomes very offensive. This may annoy the cows and 
pijps lying on or near them, and this may ha\e something to do with the backward 
movement of these animals in Sejjtember and October, but this is by no maans cer- 
tain, and the seals withdraw not merely from the places where the dead bodies are 
thickest, but from otlier places as well. In fact, there is nothing whatever to show 
that the seals themselves notice or pay any attention to such odors or to any odors 
proceeding from objects at a distance from tliem. The great care often taken to 
approach a herd of fur seals from the leeward side is usually unnecessary. 

REDUCTION IX NUMMEH OF BULLS. 

Some slight alterations in the conditions of life necessarily result from the inter- 
ference of man. Reduction of the number of bulls causes them to take their stands 
farther apart. This in some measure reduces their turbulence. Killing at sea has 
still more rapidly reduced the number of females, thereby causing a general thin- 
ning out of the harems. This enables the individual bull to "round up " more easily 
those cows he claims as his own, and with less interference I'rom jealous rivals. 

NATURAL SELECTION. 

There is no evidence that the race of fur seals as a whole has been in any way 
affected by the arbitrary sidection of males lor killing. Only stroni;', vigorous males 
can maintain themselves on the rookeries in any case, and tlmse allowed to live are 
not more or less vigorous tliau the others would have been. The variations in these 
regards ai-e not great, and effects, if any exist, would not appear for many genera- 
tions, perhaps not for centuries. Careful supervision might make an effective arti- 
ficial selection possible, anil such experiments, wliether leading to practical results 
or not, are worth trying, lint it is certain tluit the character of the herd has not 
been affected by any act of man. It is to be renuunbered that a strong selective 
inlluence is exei'cised by the migrations in the sea. Only the vigorous members of 
the herd survive the experiences of the winter. No decrepit individuals have been 
known to come back in the sjiring. The rough sea of the Nortli tells no tales, and 
we know very little of the severity of the sorting process which every year sends 
back to the islands only those (it to survive. 

With the fur seal, natural selection has to do m;iinly with the struggle against 
conditions of life. 'I'he competitive struggle of individual against individual is a * 
very slight element. The success of th(; individual male depends ratlier on his loca- 
tion than on his strength or prowess. The choice of place l)y females determines in 
the main the size of the harem. From the ruthless natural destruction of all seals 
in which the geographical instinct or the instincts of feeding and reiiroduction are 
defective, results the extreme perfection of these few instincts which the animal 
possesses. 

INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE. 

The life ]>rocesses of the fur seal are as ]ierfect as clockwork; but its grade of 
intelligence is low. Its range of choice in action is very slight. It is a wonderful 
automaton, and the stress of migrations will always keej) it so. 

By intellect or intelligence in this sense is meant the power to choose among dif- 
ferent ])ossible courses of action. The external influences and internal impulses pro- 
duce certain imjiressions on the nervous system of the aninuil. By the automatic 
instinct the response which follows is directly related to the cause, and there is no 
choice among resjionses. So much influence; so much rebound. By the operations 
of instinct each individual in given conditions will act just as any other individual 
will. Intellect, however, implies individuality. One animal will choose to do this, 



28 

another that, a<lai)tinf;' aiHoii to the special needs or rircuinstances. A fur seal will 
do what his ancestors lia\'e had to do to ])erfectioii. If he is led to do anything else 
he is dazed and stujiid. For these reasons onr c.\j)erinicnl8 in lietter methods of 
culling- kill;ibl(>, seals l)y sending the herd through a wooden cliiite were not sn<'<'essful. 
The most ex]ierieneed Imlls would beat tlieir noses against a door closed before them, 
if another seal had been seen to jiass through it. That one door was shut and another 
opened is beyond their comprehension. 

X. PELAGIC SEALING AND ITS EFFECTS. 

KILLINi; AT SKA. 

By i)elagic sealing is meant the killing of fur seals in the open sea with firearms 
or with the spear and club. After feeding, the animals lie and sleep on the surface 
of the water ('uring the digestion of their food. Taking advantage of this habit, 
the hunter steals up in his boat and shoots or spears the slec])ing animal 

On shore the life of the female fur serJ is sa'red; she is like a domestic animal of 
high Aalue. On the sea she is a wild lieast, to l)e killed on sight. 

INDISCRIMINATE KILLIN(J. 

Pelagic sealing is, in its essence, indiscrimiimte killing, or killing without refer- 
ence to sex, age, or condition. Its efl'ects on tlie fur seal iierd arc precisely the 
effects which indiscriminate killing would produce on anj' ofher herd of yiolygamous 
animals, as cattle, sheep, or horses. Other things being e(iual, the maiutenauce or 
increase of a herd depends on the birth rate; that is, on the number of breeding 
females. 

NUMBER OF COWS. 

On the Pribilof Islands the number of female fur seals (cows), exclusive of the 
young of the year (pui)s), is about double the number of males (bulls, half bulls, 
and bachelors). The sujaller number of the males is due to laud killing, the quota 
of skins taken by the lessees of the islands being made up wholly of young mules. 
As the services of 1 male are adequate to from 2.5 to 100 females, and perhaps a much 
greater number, land killing, unless inordinate, can not check the increase of the 
herd. As the females are at present about twice as numerous as tiie males, killing 
at sea means killing at least two females to one male. The evil effect of such kill- 
ing is immediate, coutinuous, and cumulative. 

NORTH PACIFIC CATCH. 

In the pelagic sealing of the North Pacific, January to May (May and June being 
now closed months), the fur seals are killed while on their migrations. The snow 
and ice of \\ inter drives most or all of them I'rom the island, while their need of food, 
leads them to the southward. Their southward limit varies greatly. The females 
and young nmles often reach the latitude of San Francisco * and ])erhaps farther. The 
pups of the year are not known to go beyond ('ape Flattery, while the old males 
remain about the Fairweather grounds in the Gulf of Alaska. In the North Pacific 
the number of females killed is about pro[iortionate to the total number of females, 
or about two to one as com])ared with the males. These adult females are in all 
cases heavy with ]iup. Barren lemales are virtually unknown. Only one such case, 
a cow, with deformed (abortive) ovaries is on record. t The death of a cow in the 
North Pacific invohes one less birth for the year in question, as well as for the 
succeeding years of her natural life. 

* These matters are still much in need of investigation. According to Dr. Mer- 
riam, the fur seals formerly taken about the Santa Barbara Islands i)robably belonged 
to an undescribed sitecies (now almost extinct) resident on Guadalupe Island. 
tThe following account of this animal is taken from our field notes: 
"On August 1 a barren cow was found in a pod of bachelors ou the parade ground 
of Reef Eookery. From an examination of the teeth and skull she was found to be 
an adult cow, probably about 5 years of age. She was above medium length, but 
slender and of rather less than medium weight. The throat was very dark broAvn in 
color; rusty Itelow as well as above. She was killed for purposes of study. On 
examination the nuinnua- were found to be fairly large and to have undergone path- 
ological fatty degeneration. The glandular structure was obliterated. The ovaries 
were found to be small, about one-fourth the size of those of the virgin 2-year-old 
cows recently examined. The fallopian tubes and uterus were similarly atrophied. 
The right ovary contained a small Graafian follicle and egg. The germinal spot was 
visible in the egg and not imjiregnated. There was evident no sign of impregnation 
or of capacity for impregnation. No signs of corpus luteum or scars of previous 
impregnation were visible. The opening of bladder was so small as to recjuire a 
probe to find it. There was no trace of hypera^nia, the tissues being pale and 
bloodless." (Dissection by Dr. Otto Voss and D. S. Jordan.) 



29 



BERING SEA CATCH. 

In Bering Sea pehigic sealing, June to September (June and July being now 
closed months), means iu general the killing of liir seals while temporarily absent 
from the islands for the purpose of feeding. 

ALL COWS PREGNANT. 

As a rule all females, except yearlii'gs, taken in Bering Sea after the first of 
August, the present ev.d of the "close season,' are pregnant. In the very short 
interval between ])arturition and imjiregniition the Imlls never allow the cows to 
le;ive the "harems." A certain number of the adult cows (7 ]>er cent in 1896) 
lose their ])U])s early, the young l)eing trampleil on iu the quarrels or clumsy move- 
ments of the bulls. The remaining adult females (93 per cent of the whole num- 
ber) have each a pup, which is lelt on shore while the mother goes out to feed. 
This puj) is wholly dependent on its mother's milk for nourishment until its depar- 
ture with hev in November from the islands. The death of the mother therefore 
involves the death of the pup and of the unl)orn fetus. Yearling females are sex- 
ually immature. jNlost of them do not arrive befoie August 10, when the breed- 
ing season is virtually over, and their mo^■ements are as irregular as those of the 
young males. I'he 2-year-old virgin females come to the islands late in July for 
impregnation and remain there for the rest of the season, except for occasional food 
excursions. 

FEEDING HABITS. 

The adult males never leave their stands on the rookeries during the breeding 
season. Toward the middle of August they go out to feed, returning at intervals to 
their place on the rookeries or to sleep on the sands lor the remainder of their stay 
on the islands. The young females and bachelors probably come and go for food at 
regular intervals during the summer, but as feeding with them is not such an urgent 
necessity as with the cows they are doubtless less frequently found on the feeding 
grounds and being more timid are not so olten taken by the hunters. The pelagic 
catch in Bering Sea is therefore necessarily very largely nuide up of adult fenuiles. 

PROPORTION OF FEMALES KILLED. 

According to data collected iu 1895 by Mr. A. B. Alexander, while on board the 
sealing schooner Dora Siewerd, out of 1,577 seals comprising the season's catch of 
that vessel 62 per cent were females. For the most ]iart the sex statistics regarding 
the pelagic catch are confused and untrustworthy, but from additional figures col- 
lected in 1895 by Mr. C. H. Townseud, the accuracy of which we have no reason to 
doubt, covering a wider range of conditions, the actual jier cent of females is found 
to rise somewhat above 70. This percentage is not a pernuinent one, but will change 
from year to year. A deficiency in land killing raises the percentage of males, and 
vice versa. The proportion of adult females is in general highest toward the mid- 
dle of August, the older males going to sea in greater numbers, while more young 
males would be taken in July. The number of pups (16,019) known to have starved 
to death on the Pribilof Islands in 1896 through the death of the mothers is about 55 
per cent of the number of skins (29,398) recorded as brought to ports by vessels 
engaged in pelagic sealing in Bering Sea. 

PELAGIC SEALING A SUICIDAL INDUSTRY. 

Pelagic sealing in Bering Sea in August is therefore in the highest degree destruc- 
tive to the herd. If considered as an industry, it is a suicidal one, as it can be profit- 
ably continued only under conditions which must bring it to a speedy end. Pelagic 
sealing is therefore not propeidy an industry at all, as it adds nothing to the wealth 
of the world. Since it began more than 600,000 fur seals have been taken in the North 
Pacific and in Bering Sea. This means the death of not less than 400,000 breeding- 
females, the starvation of 300,000 pups, and the destruction of 400,000 pups still 
unb()rn. In this calculation account is taken only of those of which the skins have 
been brought to market. No record of the animals lost after being shot or speared is 
available, though the number is known to be very great. 

PELAGIC SEALING SOLE CAUSE OF DECLINE OF HERD. 

Pelagic sealing, in the judgment of the members of the present commission, has 
been the sole cause of the continued decline of the fur seal herds. It is at present the 
sole obstacle to their restoration and the sole limit to their indefinite increase. It 
is therefore evident that no settlement of the fur seal question as regards either the 



30 

American or tlie Kussiaii islands ran bepeiiiiancnt unless it shall jirovirto for the cessa- 
tion of tlie imliscriniinate killing of fnr seals, both on the fecdinj;- gronnds and on 
their migrations. There can be no "ojien season" for the killing of females if the 
herd is to be kept intact. 

IMJEGXANCY OF FKMALKS AT SKA. 

As stated above, all females taken at sea on the migrations, except yearlings and 
2-year olds, are pregnant. Those taken at sea while on feeding excursions are, if 3 
years or more of age, both nursing and jtregnant. I'rom this number must be 
excepted about 7 percent whose pups liave been crushed to death and who iire ])reg- 
nant, but no longer nursing. All 2-year-old lemales are pregnant, but not in milk. 

THE VIKGIN YEARLINGS. 

The yearling females ha\e undeveloped ovaries. They do not aiipeavon the islands 
till the first week in August. They then roam freely over roitkeries and hauling 
grounds as privileged characters. Many of them play with the ])ups, nnich as little 
girls i»lay with dolls. In the fall, after the i)U])S have taken on their gray coat, it is 
not easy to distinguish the yearling females from them. The yearling males are 
larger. Among the pn])s no such marked difference is noted, the females being but 
slightly smaller than the males. 

In numbers the nursing females are about equal to all other classes of seals taken 
together (pups excepted). 

XI. LOCATION OF FEEDING GROUNDS. 

It is known that female seals feed at great and various distances from the islands, 
and that they go in various directions to the southeast, south, southwest, and west- 
ward for this purpose. There is no way of determining accurately the period of 
absence or the distance traveled by any individual, because the individuals can 
rarely Be marked or continuously observed. The length of absence ranges from a 
few days to a week or more, probably being longer as the pup grows older. The 
nursing females are known to go as far as 200 miles from the islands. 

NO SEALS IX THE NORTHEAST QUADRAIST. 

According to Capt. Horatio D. Smith, of the revenue cutter Pernj, very few seals 
feed in the cold waters to the north and northeast of the Prildlof Islands. On a 
cruise of 900 miles in early September, 1896, neither seal nor sealing vessel was 
sighted in this region. Here the ocean Hoor is comparatively level, and the temper- 
ature of the water about 37°. In the southwest (juadraut the usual tem])erature is 
about 46'-'. The success of the pelagic sealer dejieiuls on his knowledge of wbere to 
look for seals, and the maps prepared from sealing records furnish most of our infor- 
mation in this regard. A series of such maps will accompany the hual re^jort. 

MIGRATIONS. 

Mr. Lucas gives the following summary of our present knowledge of these 
matters: 

" From data collected by Mr. C. H. Townsend, it appears that in Bering Sea the 
seals are found between longitude 165*^ to 17.5" in a broad tract stretching north- 
westerly from the vicinity of Uninuik Pass to latitude 63°. A few are found outside 
these limits, but the main body of the herd is found in the locality given between 
June and November, l)ecause this is their great feeding ground. During spring and 
winter the seals occur in a belt skirting the coast of North Anu'rica for a distance of 
100 to 500 miles from shore from the vicinity of the Farallones around to Fnimak 
Pass. -Scattering seals have been reported at as great distances from land as latitude 
40°, longitude 148°, and from latitude 4,S°, longitude 165°, northeastwardly to the 
Shnmagiu Islands. The old bulls in winter freciuent the Gulf of Alaska, while the 
females and young males range farther south. All these seals found at sea are prac- 
tically feeding seals, the lines of migration being determined by the food sujjply, 
and all female seals above 2 years old are breedingseals, eitherreceutly im])r('gnated 
and with young on shore as well, or with the fietus in a more or less advanced con- 
dition. It has been suggested that the route of migratory seals is inlluenced by the 
temi)erature of the water, but there are no data to adecjuately substantiate this, while 
there is every reason to believe that food is the main factor in the case. The homing 
instinct is also to be considered in this connection." 



31 

XII. FOOD OF THE FUR SEAL. 

SURFACE FISHES AND SQUID. 

The food of the fur seal consists mainly of snrface-swimniing fishes and of squid. 
As to the species of fish, the fnr seal has probably little choice. It does Jiot dive 
deeply and its (ood is naturally made of the shallow water or surface fishes on its 
feeding grounds. 

IN BERING SEA. 

In Bering Sea, in August and September, the Alaskan pollock {I'oUcuhhisi clialco- 
granimiia) seems to form by far the most important part of the seal's diet. In the 
stomachs examined by Mr. Lucas this species far outnumbered all others, the squid 
coming next in i'requency. Salmon are eaten when found, and occasionally species 
of smaller tishes not yet fully id( ntified. 

Mr. Lucas observes : 

"Squid and young pollock are eaten in large quantities, the beaks of 1.55 squids 
having been found in one stomach and the bones of 41 young pollock in another. 
It must, however, be borne in mind that this does not me;in that all these were eaten 
at one time, for a study of the stomach shows that food is eaten and the hard parts 
regurgitated continually but irregularly." 

From data obtained by Dr. C. Hart Merriam it appears that a large portion of the 
food of the seals found in the North Pacific between latitude 56^, longitude 59°, 
during April consists of a species of red rockfish (Sehaslocles) and an almost equally- 
large portion of squids (Goiiatiis ama'iiiis); some pollock {FoUacMus chalcogr animus) 
and smaller lishes are also eaten. 

No codfish or halibut has been found by us in seals'" stomachs. These bottom fishes 
probably swim at de])ths too great for them to be often taken by the fur seal. No 
species of shark or dogfish ever has been found in the seal's stomach so far as known 
to Mr. Lucas, to Dr. Merriam, or to myself. 

SPEWINGS ON THE ROOKERIES. 

About the Commander Islands the spewings of the fur seals consist largely of the 
beaks of squid. On the rookeries of the Pribilof Islands spewings containing 
squid beaks and eyes, also the flesh and bones of pollock, were found. This is 
almost the only evidence we have on land of the feeding of the seals.' It is likely 
that the animals do not come on laud with food in their stomachs except in very 
rare instances. The only evidence we have of these exceptional cases is in the 
presence of the spewings. 

FEEDING OF BACHELORS. 

During the killing season the stomachs of the bachelors are found to be empty. 
It has been supposed on this account that they fasted during the summer. This is 
probably not the case. At a food killing on October 15, on St. Paul, 59 seals were 
killed. They were driven from Zolotoi sands, to which they had returned the day 
before after an absence of three weeks. They gave every indication of having fed 
largely, but the stomachs of the entire lot were empty. During September and 
October four cows were killed for investigation of the development of the fietus. The 
animals were chosen with reference to throwing light also on the food question. 
Their stonuichs were wholly devoid of food. A large adult bull recently in from 
feeding and so fat that he could scarcely walk was killed in October and found with- 
out food in his stomach. 

SEALS REMAIN IN W^ATER WHILE FOOD DIGESTS. 

From these facts it seems clear that the fur seals remain in the water until the 
food in their stomachs is digested. Investigation of the supposed feeding of pups 
shows that they are doubtless also in the water for the same jiuriiose. This explains 
the presence of the mass of seals which were constantly seen through the entire 
season swimming about in an aimless fashion before the rockeries. It also explains 
why cows are never seen to come directly in from the sea, but always apparently 
from the fringe of idle seals offshore. They delay to finish digesting their food. 
It also obviates the necessity for supposing that the bachelors fast during the sum- 
mer. In the case of the adult bulls the fasting is necessary, but no good reason can 
be assigned for the alleged fasting of the bachelors. Their continuous iilumpness 
indicates that they do not fast. 



32 



MR. ALEXANDER'S OBSERVATIOXS. 

Concerning the food found in the stomachs of seals on the feeding grounds of 
Bering Sea, Mr. A. B. Alexander observes : 

"The material which has been found in the stomachs of .seals taken in ditierent 
parts of J5ering Sea indicates that only a small percentage is composed of lish which 
inhabit deep water. It is only reasonable to suppose, however, that when seals are 
in shallow water they I'eed on both bottom lish and on those near the surface. A 
not uncommon component of their Ibod is the red rocklish, which oi'Ciirs iu both 
deep and shallow water, and ])ossibly also near the surface at tinu'S, wliich would 
account for its being found in the stomaciis of seals captured where the water is 100 
fathoms or more deep. 

" Siirfjice (ishes, and especially squid, seem to be the natural food of the seal. In 
the stonnichs that have been examined a variety of material was found, such as 
pieces of Alaskan pollock, salmon, and other fishes, but it has also been observed 
that in localities where squid are i)lentiful very little other food may be looked for. 
I am informed by hunters that on the coast of .Japan and off the Commander Islands 
squid oicur in great abundance, and that it is not an unconnnon sight to see a half 
dozen or more seals together feeding on the tentacles of an octopus floating on the 
surface. Sealers find squid plentiful off the island of Kadiak, and in that locality 
they have often been found in large (luantities in the stomachs of seals." 

Outside of I'ering Sea the food changes somewhat. The pollock grows rare to the 
southward, while salmon, herring, and rockfish become abundant. Doubtless these 
and other avaihible fishes are eaten in numbers. We have no reason to suppose that 
the seal prefers the flesh of any one species to another. 

AMOUNT OF FOOD CONSUMED. 

Calculations as to the amount of food consumed by the fur seals have little value. 
Nor is it likely that lack of food is an important element in checking their increase. 

It may be noted in this connection that the pollock, which makes tlie chief food 
of the fur seal, has never been sought as a food fish. In Bering Sea more valuable 
fishes, as the cod, halibut, and Atka-fish, are very abundant, rendering the utilization 
by man of the pollock unnecessary. In no case is it likely that the great cod and 
salmon fisheries of Alaska will be aftected in any way for good or ill by the fur seal. 
Its destruction of salmon amounts to but little. It neither eats sharks nor is it 
eaten by them. The dogfish is not recorded from Bering Sea. 

XIII. FOOD OF THE PUPS. 

SEALS NURSE THEIR OAVN PUPS ONLY. 

The nursing fur seal never knowingly feeds any pup other than her own. She 
knows her own pup as surely as the mare knows her own foal. As the pup grows 
older he learns to know his mother's voice unerringly. While the mother shows 
little aftection for her pup and generally treats it with indifference after she has 
recognized it and given it an opportunity to nurse, there is no difficulty in determin- 
ing when mother and pup meet and recognize each other. And if this matter were 
in doubt, no one would be able to mistake the savage way in which the female fur 
seal treats a pup which is not her own. The starving pups were closely observed 
with a view of determining whether any of them succeeded in nursing other cows. 
Occasionally a pup would be seen to try to nurse some sleeping cow, but the cow 
always awoke instantly and savagely repulsed the starveling. Such a pup dare not 
approach a cow that was awake. There can be no doubt whatever that if a pup 
loses its mother before it is weaned in November it can not find another cow to 
give it nourishment and must starve. 

The following is a typical record of attempts of starving pups to .secure milk: 
"Reef, September 1: I see a little starving pup below me. He is moving about 
calling out and nosing about the breasts of sleeping cows. He has tried three and 
been driven off with a growl and snap from the waking cow. He wanders some dis- 
tance. Comes up to a sleeping cow whose pup is either nursing or asleep with his nose 
at the nipple. The starveling takes hold and evidently nurses for some seconds. But 
the cow, as before, wakes and snaps at him with unwonted vigor. Her own pup has 
been asleep. Evidently she had been misled by the fact of his having recently been 
sucking. The starveling gives up and lies down." (G. A. C.) 



33 



WEAXIXG OK PUPS NOT BEFOUE NOVEMBER. 

A number of pups were killed in the fall of 1896 to determine if possible whether 
thoy feed on anything but milk. In no case before October 22 was any food other 
than milk found. The following extracts are taken from Mr. Clark's tield record: 

STOMACHS EXAMINED (PUPS). 

"August ?.9.— Pup killed on Lukanin ; stomach contained only milk. 

"Septemher 7^.— Male pup accidentally smothered on Kitovi; stomach empty. 

"September 22. — Two male i>ups taken on rocks at the warehouse; both stomachs 
contained milk only. 

"■September 26. — Two large well-nourished pups, one male and one female, found 
freshly dead from drowning on Lukanin beach; stomach of female, empty; male full 
of milk only. 

" September 2S.—V\\\^ with deformed nuse killed at Zapadni; stomach contained 
milk only. 

"September 5(9.— Largo black pup accidentally killed by falling over a clift'; stom- 
ach contained milk only. 

'• October 2.— Large gray female pup killed on Gorbatch; stomach contained milk 
and two small crustaceans. 

"Octobers. — Starving gray pup in dying condition on the Reef killed; stomach 
contained a few crustaceans and several shreds of seaweed. 

" October 6. — Two iiu]).s killed on Tolstoi; milk only found in their stomach.s. 

" October 11. — Two large gray male pups killed on Gorbatch ; stomachs empty. 

" October IS. — Two pups, male and female, killed on Lukanin; stomach of male 
empty ; of female contained milk only. 

" Two large gray pups killed on Kitovi; stomacli of one full of milk; of the other 
emptj', except for one small tunicate. 

" October 14.— Three ]>ups killed on Kitovi. (1) A starving pup, stomach contain- 
ing one soft-shelled crab ; (2) a very small pup, stomach full of milk ; (3) a large gray 
pup, stomach empty. 

" October 20. — Gray pup shot in water off Zolotoi playing with seaweed ; stomach 
full of milk ; excrement like that seen on beacli in rectum and intestines. 

"All stomachs examined contained pebbles." 

XIV. LAND KILLING OF BACHELOR FUR SEALS. 

LAND KILLING USEFUL TO HERD. 

Land killing has been for many years limited to the removal of a definite niimber 
of young males, chiefly 3-year-olds, with occasional "long 2-year-oldS" and "short 
4-year-old8." Owing to the polygamous habits of the fur seal a very small percent- 
age of males suffices for the needs of proi^agation. An excess of males is positively 
and extremely injurious to the herd, because of their excessive fighting and the 
consequent destruction of jjnps and cows. Hence this removal of male life tends 
distinctly to favor the increase of the herd. 

OVERKILLING AS AFFECTING THE HERD. 

As it has been claimed that killing of males has been a cause of the decrease of 
the herd, it is necessary to treat this matter in some detail. The term "overkill- 
ing'' in this connection is susceptible of two meanings, both of which should be 
clearly understood. 

AVhile a small percentage of males is sufficient for reproduction, a certain number 
is absolutely essential. If reduced too low or cut off entirely the ettect must be 
disastrous. ' Such a condition, however, could not be easily brought about and 
might be not even possible. For example, if the young male life of 4 years and 
under on the Pribilof Islands were to-day entirely wiped out, the herd would not 
be injured by such loss within about five years, for the supply of males of 5 years and 
upward on the island would not be exhausted within that time. Breeding would 
go on as usual on the rookeries and the usual increase would take place. Although 
it would not be possible under these conditions to secure killable seals on the 
island, still the life and increase of the herd would be in no way affected. Fur- 
thermore, such action to be dangerous must be kent up year after year. 

7423 3 



34 



LITTLE DANGER (»K OVKKKILLINC. 

Oveikilliuj; of males in such a way as to iDJuie the lierd has never occurred on 
the Pribilof Islands, certainly not in American times. I'luler present conditions it 
could hardly be brought about. A ccrtaiii number ol' a i;.;()rous and otherwise nnin- 
jiireii males are every year rejected on tlu' killing grounds and allowed to escajie to 
the sea because of some defect, in the skin, as a scar from a ))ite. In addition to this 
there are on .St. Paul t\\o rookeries of considerable size (>Si\utch Kock and Lagoon), 
besides several minor hauling grounds, from which bachelors are ne\er driven, and 
which in themselves are probably capable oi' supplying from year to year the neces- 
sary augment of bulls. 

It has, however, been suggested that such overkilling has occurred, and as an 
attem])t has been made to couTiect it with the beginning of the decline of the herd 
by supjiosing that at some time there were not enough bulls to serve the cows, and 
that the usual number of ))ups was not born, it may therefore be worth while to 
consider the facts in the case. 

The decline of the fur seal herd began to be noticeable from 1886 to 1890, markedly 
so in the last-nameil year. If due in any sense to a scarcity of bulls, such scarcity 
must have occurred three years previous, as a falling olf in the birth of pups could 
only be noticed at the time when ihey would naturally return as o-year-olds to the 
breeding and killing grounds. There is nothing in the history of these years to war- 
rant the supj)ositi<ui that there was a scarcity of bulls. There is in fact no evidence 
whatever that any normal adult female on the island ever failed of impregnation. 

But we are not Ibrced to rely on negative evidence. There is positive pioof that 
such a scarcity of bulls as to cause failure in impregnation could not have existed. 
In 1876 and 1877, instead of the full (]nota of 100,000 skins, ibr comnu-rcial reasons, 
only 89,000 and 75,000, res] ectively, were taken, the market being overstocked. In 
1875 and 1878 the full (juota oi' 100,000 skins w.as taken. There is no reason for sup- 
posing that the lull (juota could not have been taken in the intervening years. As 
a result of this reduction in the killings for 1876 and 1877, 35,000 young 1)ulls must 
have been saved on the Pribilof Islands, and these in 1885-86 must have been 10 
years of age and still in their prime when the decline of the herd was well under 
way. 

OVEHKILLING AS AFFEC'ilNG THE FUTURE QUOTA. 

Overkilling in the sense of premature killing has occurred beyond a doubt. This 
affects the (fuota of future ye:;rs, but does not injure the herd itself. There is every 
reason to l)elieve that in 1887 to 188 ) the fixed quota of 100,000 skins had become 
too great for the de])leted herd, the pups of three years before having been largely 
starved to death under the action of pehigic sealing. For this reason the supply of 
3-year-old seals fell short and the deficiency was made up by drawing on the 2-year- 
olda. This in turn increased tlie difficulty in getting the (|Uota for the succee<liug 
year, and the cut Avent deeper until it reached even the larger yearlings. The effect 
of this action-shows itself clearly in the drop from 100,000 skins in 1889 to 21,000 in 
1890. In the preceding year almost all 2-year-olds and many of the yearlings had 
been taken. This sudden drop does not represent a correspondingly sudden reduction 
in the size of the herd. It might occur even if the herd were increasing. As a matter 
of fact, at the time, the herd had been slowly but steadily declining under pelagic 
sealing. The lixed quota of 100,000 had been kept up by lowering the size of skins. 
Instead of reducing the (|uota as the herd declined, the original number was main- 
tained until the killing came to an abru2it stop. But it can not be too strongly 
emphasized that the breeding herd need not be affected if the wandering bachelors 
on the hauling grounds had been wholly extirpated. 

Had such close killing as this been continued indefinitely it would possibly have 
been disastrous in time, although this is far from certain. It was, however, fol- 
lowed in 1892-93 by an almost complete cessation of killing of males pending the 
modus Vivendi. The result of this action is shown in the ])resent overstocked con- 
dition of the islands as to bulls, a condition doubtless more injurious to the herd 
than a moderate deficiency in male life would be. 

No doubt the difficulty of getting the quota in the later eighties was slightly 
intensitied l)y the wasteful practice then permitted of killing each fall 3,000 to 5,000 
male ])ups for food. If, as there is some reason to suppose, in the early years of this 
practice absolute care was not taken to select only males, then the killing of pups 
may have 'bad an insignificant share in addition to pelagic sealing in reducing the 
herd. But such effect, if ever felt, could have been only temporary, as after the tirst 
year or two there is no doubt that the killing was restricted to male pups only. 

OVERKILLING OF MALES NOT A CAUSE OF DECLINE OF HERD. 

Overkillingof males, therefore, does not enter as a factor in the diminution of the 
seal herd. Overkilling as affecting the quota occurred only in the later eighties, and 
the conditions were at the time of a special nature. Such killing would not naturally 



35. 

be practiced by lessees of the islands, as it is suicidal in its effect and would injure the 
business of taking s^al skins on land long before it could in any way affect the life of 
the herd. In ali these regards the interest of the lessees of the islands must be iden- 
tical with those of tlie herd itself, and therefore Avith those of the Government of 
the United .States, That the percentage of bulls really necessary for the needs of 
the herd is a small one is well illustrated by the experiments on the Commander 
Islands. 

coxmxioxs ox jbering islaxd. 

On Bering Island for some years past no " killable" bachelors have been spared, 
and the proportionate number of bulls is now very far below what it has been under 
the closest killing on .St. Paul. On Poludenuoye (South) rookery, Bering Island, 
for example, there were in 1S95 five bulls, in 1896 three bulls, to between 500 and 
1,000 females. Yet this number, assisted perhaps by immature males, has been 
shown to be entirely adequate for the impregnation of all females. According to 
Mr. Barrett-Hamilton, of the British Fur Seal Commission, to all appearance every 
cow on this rookery had a pup in 1896. The same observation has been confirmed by 
Mr. Emil Kluge, and by Dr. Stejneger and Captain Moser, who visited the rookery at 
about the same time. In his report on the Kussian Fur Seal Islands (p. 64) in 1895, 
Dr. Stejneger observes: 

"On that rookery (Poludenuoye) the disproportion between the two sexes was 
excessive in 1895. According to reliable information, the number of bulls on the 
whole rookery did not exceed five. Judging from what I saw of this rookery during 
two visits, I s'hould place the number of breeding females at about 600, iiossibly only 
500. It would be a comparatively easy matter to observe this year (1896) whether 
the number of ]nips boru be very markedly small in proportion to the number of 
females hauling out." 

On the larger Severnoye (North) rookery of Bering Island the conditions are 
much the same, although the numbers neither of bulls nor of cows can be counted. 
The number of bulls is, however, so suuiU that the bachelors wander at will over the 
rookeries. In the drives made from time to time, bulls, cows, pups, and bachelors ai-e 
brought up together. In the harsher regime of the Kussian islands, the extreme kill- 
ing of bulls as well as other experinu'uts apparently hazardous have been tried, in 
this case witbout apparent harm so long as the breeding rookeries are undisturbed. 

On Medni Island, all bachelors that can be secured are killed each year. There 
are, however, two or three hauling grounds (Sikatchinskaya, ete.) which are virtually 
inaccessible, and in these are reared what is considered a superfluity of bulls. 
Although on none of the rookeries of the Pribilof Islands are bulls as few as on 
Medui, yet on the latter island 172 superfluous bulls were this year killed for leather. 

The proportion of adult bulls to impregnated cows on the Pribilof Islands is now 
about 1 to 22 (idle bulls and virgin 2-year olds being included). The average num- 
ber of adult cows in the harems in July is 30. 

WRAXGI.IXG BULLS. 

Tbe evil effects of the overstock of males have never hitherto been fully under- 
stood or estimated. The chief cause of death on the rookeries among females and 
youug pups is found in the wrangling of the bulls and in the struggles of the reserve 
or idle bulls to steal cows from the harems. More than 10,000 puits were trampled 
to death on the Pribilof Islands in 1898, and about 130 cows were killed by the rough 
seizure of the bulls in their struggles for possession. 

As the fur seal herd has year by year grown less crowded, this mortality has 
probably never reached so low a percentage before. In the original or wild state of 
the herd, when the number of adult bulls'was nearly equal to that of the cows, this 
destruction must have been enormous, perhaps appmaching 200,000 each year. It 
was undoubtedly the chief check on the indefinite increase of the herd. The death 
of these thousands must have been adequate to compensate for the natural increase. 
The removal of superfluous bulls may also have the effect of relatively increasing 
the food snpply. 

WAITIXG HULLS. 

Around each rookery, behind, before, and on each side, and on the rocks awash 
on the sea front, there are now, throughout the month of July, several outpost lines 
of idle bulls, active and ])uguacious, which prevent any invasion of the harems by 
the bachelors, although constantly attempting such invasion themselves. This con- 
dition continues until the drives of bachelors are finished, the last week of July, 
and prevents any possibility of fenuile fur seals being drawn into the drives, or of 
the driven bachelors eseapiug to work confusion in the rookeries. Later in the 
season most of these reserve l)ulls succeed in forming harems from virgin 2-year-old8 
and belated adult females. 



36 



INSTITI'TION OF HAULING GROUNDS. 

The bachelor fur seals have a wholesome aud \ve]l-f>roun(le(l fear of these bulls, 
keejiinj;' away from them and iroui the rookeries. 'J'his leads to the institution of 
the separate hauling grounds on which the bachelors Avander, play, or sleep at will. 
The sea in front of the rookeries is also a play space for thi^m. Only fear of the 
bulls keeps them away irom the harems. "\Vhen the old bulls leave the rookeries in 
August to feed the bachelors scatter tlieniselves over the breeding grounds. The 
oldest of them, the half bulls (5 aud ti years old), usually enter lirst, endeavoring to 
play the part of the older bulls, which they do with great apjiarent satisfaction. 
On the return of the latter in September, these are again driven off. 

On Bering Island, as already stated, the number of adult bulls is very small. 
There are now no separate hauling g:ounds. The bachelors lie about the harems 
even in June aud July, and when they are sought lor killing, the whole herd, males, 
females, and pups must be driven oft' together. For this reason the drives on Bering 
Island are not made at the time of the height of the breeding season. 

Such a condition has never exi8te<l on the Tribilof Islands. During the killing- 
season the bachelors are perforce obliged to stay away from the rookeries, and the 
harems are not disturbed when the young males are driven to the killing grounds. 

Beyond the mixing up of the herd, which is inconvenient to the fur seal killers 
and dangerous to the pups, no evil effect of the reduction of males lias been rejiorted 
from Bering Island. So long as the l>aelielors herd separately in July aud are not 
found diffused through the rookeries, it may be safely assumed that there are adult 
bulls enough. Fortunately, also, as has been shown, any error in this respect will 
make itself felt first in tlie quota, and is callable of immediate rectification. Fur- 
thermore, the CJovernment has it in its power to fully regulate this matter. 

Since 1890 the quota of males to be killed has never been a fixed one, and the Gov- 
ernment agents take care that a sufHcient number of young males are each year 
allowed to escape to replenish the stock. At present about n,000 adult bulls are in 
service iu the harems. This number is evidently far more than enough. Doubtless 
ten years is a low estimate of the period of service of a bull. The saving of 500 to 
1,000 young males each year would probably be fully sufficient to keep the stock 
replenished. 

XV. NEED OF SCIENTIFIC SUPERVISION OF THE BREEDING 

HERDS. 

The continuous investigation of these matters should be undertaken. The herd 
should be treated as a breeding herd of cattle or horses would be. It should be 
under the immediate control each summer of a competent naturalist, who should 
devote his energies to the study of the needs of the herd, its preservation, increase, 
and possible improvement. 

IMPROVEMENT AND EXTENSION OF THE ROOKERIES. 

In this connection, I may call attention to the great need of improvements in the 
rookeries themselves. For a slight cost the death traps described in detail below 
could be repaired and obliterated, and the lives of thousands of pups each year could 
be saved. The rookery grounds themselves could be extended both on St. Paul and 
St. George by blasting off the cliffs and strewing the Hats with bowlders. The whole 
front of Tolstoi and Zapadui headlands, for example, by the use of dynamite, could 
be made available for breeding grounds, and similar extensions could be made on 
North and East rookeries of St. George. 

Such exteusion, of course, could not be necessary except in case of the complete 
protection of the herds at sea : but with the spread of common decency in interna- 
tional affairs this condition should be brought about. It is vastly more important 
that the fur seal herd should be saved and enlarged than that any individual nation 
should have the profits of their slaughter. 

There is no sacredness to be attached to the natural state or conditions of a wild 
animal. Animals, like men in a state of nature, are pushed to the utmost by hard 
conditions. There is probably no wild animal whose conditions of life could not be 
artificially improved bj' human interference if it were thought worth the while. 

XVI. METHODS OF KILLING OF BACHELOR SEia.LS. 

In the drives on the Pribilo/ Islands the bachelor seals only are included. These 
are brought in droves from the hauling grounds to the killing grounds located at 
convenient distances from the rookeries, preferably near a pond of Avater. The 
drives are usually made in the night, the seals arriving at the killing grounds early 



37 

in the morning. This is to prevent, so far as may be, overheating. After the seals 
have rested for a time the killing is begun. The larger droves are separated into 
small "pods'' of 20 -to 30, which in succession are driven up within reach of men 
armed with stout clubs. Tliese "cull" out the "killable'' seals (3-year-olds, large 
2-year-olds and small 4-year-olds) by striking them on the head, allowing the nou- 
killable seals (yearlings, snuill 2-ye'ar-olds, and all " wigged" seals) to escape and 
go back to the sea. The blow of the club renders the animal instantly unconscious, 
if it does not kill it outright. It is then bled by sticking a knife to the heart and 
it is immediately afterwards skinned. 

METHODS CAN NOT BE MUCH CHANGED. 

The methods of driving, killing, and skinning the seals are the results of many 
years of experience, and we do not see that they can be much improved. Whether 
brutal or not depends on the care taken in the details, which should be sultject to 
constant supervision in the interests of humane treatment. Certain accidents hap- 
pen, but they are of minor importance and do not affect the seal herd. The gregari- 
011S habit of the fur seal and his unwillingness to be left behind or even in the out- 
skirts of the drove lead occasionally to overcrowding on the drives and killing 
grounds, and a few seals are smothered. Occasionally, also, on warm mornings, a 
seal becomes overcome "" by heat or exhaustion and is unable to keep up with the 
drive. Such animals are at once killed and skinned, their pelts being recor<led as 
"road skins." If left behind, most of these would recover and get back to the sea. 
Deaths from such causes are rare, only five "road skins" having been known to occur 
on the drives of this year, out of a total of 30,000 seals killed, besides the larger num- 
ber driven up but rejected. It occasionally happens, also, that the wrong seal is 
clubbed by mistake. Such accidents seldom occur, however, as it is to the interests 
of the lessees as well as of the Government that only seals of the proper grade of 
skin are killed. 

MOON-EYED BACHELORS. 

The presence of seals suffering from blindness due to injury to the sclerotica — 
"moon-eyed" bachelors, as they are called — has been referred to as evidence of injuries 
received on the killing grounds. Occasionally an accidental blow with the club 
striking the eye will throw out the crystalline lens. This does not i)roduce opaque 
sclerotica, however, but leaves an emiity eye socket. Among the seals on the island 
this year not only were bachelors with such eyes found, but also cows and a consider- 
able number of pups. These pups will in time, if they survive, return as " moon-eyed " 
bachelors or cows, and it is but reasonable to suppose that the adults with such defec- 
tive eyes were originally blind pups. There is no evidence that the drives have any- 
thing to do with the matter. It is stated by Dr. Shute, an oculist consulted by us, 
that irritation produced by sand striking the eyeball or lodging under the lid is the 
probable cause of this disease, as well as of the sore eyelids often seen on pups. 

CARE TO AVOID NEEDLESS PAIN THE ONLY ESSENTIAL. 

The present methods of handling the seals, while they seem crude, are still effect- 
ive and well adapted to the animals with which they have to deal. Any improve- 
ments that might be suggested are of minor importance. These may all be summed 
up in an injunction that scrupulous care be exercised in carrying out properly the 
various details of the operations as now conducted. Such care is now usually exer- 
cised and need never be wanting. Killing, of course, must be killing everywhere, 
but there are probably few shambles in the world where less needless pain is inflicted, 
than on the fur seal killing grounds of the Pribilof Islands. 

SHORTENING OF THE DRIVES. 

Of late years the drives have been greatly shortened and now range in length from 
one-eighth of a mile to about a mile. This has reduced the strain on the animals, 
lessening the possibilities of smothering or death by exhatistion. None of the 
drives now made are long or trying. They bear no comparison in this regard to 
those on Medni (Copper) Island. For example, the longest drive on St. Paul, that 

*From the deficiency of sweat glands and tlie presence of the thick blanket of 
blubber, the fur seals are readily overheated by exercise. They cool themselves by 
fanning with their hind flippers, on which the skin is thin, by breathing with open 
mouth, and especially by plunging into the water when this is possible. Internally 
overheating shows itself mainly by a slight congestion of the lungs, which, except in 
extreme cases, soon passes away. 



38 

from the Reef, i.s less tlinn a mile in lenpjMi, its greatest elevation 75 feet. The longest 
drive on Mediii ( IVom I'alatii) is some 2i miles, its greatest elevation 1,220 feet. In 
Rnssian times, however, drives were made regularly from Northeast Point (Vos- 
toclini) to the village, a distance of 12 miles. * This may have resulted in pain and 
injury to individuals, Ijut no harm to tlie herd could have come i'rom it. 

CHANGKS IN IXTEKKST OF HUMANITY. 

It can not be too strongly emphasized that all improvements in methods of killing 
and all changes tending to shorten or make easier tlie drive si-rve the sole purpose 
of avoiding pain and suffering. They do not affect the interests of tlie breeding 
herd. In general no ])ractice connected with driving, culling, or killing has been at 
any time a factor in the diminution of the fur-seal herd. The s(!vere drives of the 
Commander Islands, incomparably more harsh than were ever known on the Pribi- 
lofs, have not had the slightest appreciable influence in the reduction of the fur seal 
herd there. The treatment of the bachelors, whatever it might be, would affect the 
breeding rookeries uo more than the treatuient of horses on tlie London omnibus 
lines affects the royal stables. t 

SEVERITY OF DRIVES. 

As the severity of the drives on St. Paul has been a subject of considerable exag- 
geration in certain (|Uiirters and as a number of iuijiossiblc results have been 
attributed to it, it will be well to consider the procedure somewhat in detail. 

A DRIVE FROM THE REEF. 

The following account of the Reef drive of St. Paul is copied from the field notes 
of Dr. Jordan and Mr. Clark: 

"The drive from Gorbatch and Reef rookeries this morning (.July 15) ^Yas wit- 
nessed bj' Dr. Jordan, Professor Thompson, Dr. Stejueger, Mr. Liicas, and Mr. Clark. 
Captain Moser and Lieutenant Garrett, of the Albatross, were also present. Mr. 
Crowley, Treasury agent, conducted the movements of the visitors. Fifteen Aleuts 
made up the driving party. 

" We left the village at 2 o'clock in the morning. It was then liglit enough to 
make one's way without difficulty. After a few minutes' walk we reached Zolotoi 
sands, a beach about one-fourth of a mile from the village, at the angle of which 
the bachelors from Gorbatch rookery haul out to reach the rocky slope above. The 
drivers ran in quickly between the seals and the sea and soon had the animals 
rounded up in a large pod. From a similar hauling ground on the shore Just across 
the neck of the peninsula another ])od was in like manner rounded up. The two 
pods combined were left in charge of three men to be driven across the sands to the 
village killing ground a few hundred yards beyond. 

" We then proceeded to the extreme jtoint of the Reef peninsula. The hauling 
ground of Reef rookery lies in the rear of the breeding ground and has four well- 
marked runways connecting it with the sea, on which no harems are located. A line 
of idle bulls keeps clear a consid(^rable space between the hauling ground and the 
rookery. From the head of the various runways and in the intervening space pods 
of sleeping bachelors were rounded up, th;' Aleuts passing between the idle bulls 
and the liachelors and turning the latter up the bank to the flat parade ground back 
of the hauling ground. Here the ])ods were all united in one large group and the 
drive started on its way. It was 3 o'clock when we reached the point and by 3.30 
the drive was in motion. 

"After passing over a short space of ground scattered at wide intervals with 
irregular bowlders and ha\ing a gentle slope, the drive came into the level grassy 
plain of the parade ground. Here the herd, which numbered about 1,500 bachelors, 
was separated into two parts for greater ease and safety in driving. While one pod 
was allowed to rest the otlier was driven slowly forward in the direction of the vil- 
lage. Three men were now assigned to each pod and the rest of the drivers allowed 
to return to the village to make ready for the killing. We followed the first herd. 

"Over the green turf of the parade ground the drive moved along quietly and 

*The log of the island shows that in January, 1888, a drive of 500 seals was made 
from Northeast Point for food. Instructions were given to bring the drive in care- 
fully and kill all seals becoming exhausted on the way. No record is made of any 
deaths. It is stated that the drive reached the village in good condition in two 
sections, the time being, respectively, 82 and 100 hours on the road. 

t It will surely not be contended that the killing of a large number of males injures 
the virility of those not harmed. 



39 

without difficulty. The drivers toolv their positions one ou each dank to repress 
any hiteral movements and the third brought up the rear. There was no noise or 
confusion. In general the seals were allowed to take their own time and go at their 
own pai^e. 'I'liose in the advance acted ;is leaders and the rest of the duck followed 
naturally after them. At the bi-ginning the seals showed some nductance in leaving 
their hauling grounds and made ineffectual attempts to break away. But after the 
drive got under way they moved forward ajiparently as a matter of course. When 
the leaders showed an inclination to take a wrong course tlie men on the flank sim- 
ply stood up and rai8e<l a hand, which was sufficient to turn them ba( k into the way. 
For the most part the men kept out of sight of the seals. 

" The seals on the drive do not keep up a continuous motion. They take ten era 
dozen steps and then sit down like dogs to rest and pant, resuming their way when 
they tind that their companions have gone on. The leaders set the example, and as 
they are rested by the time the rear members of the herd have come to a standstill, 
they move on and are ready to stop by the time the rear gua'd have started. The 
result is that some part of the herd is moving all the time and the progression is 
continuous. 

"There is a tendency ou the part of the young seals to go faster than the older 
ones, of which a large number were included. By a gradual sifting process the old 
fellows fell to the rear and on se^'eral occasions pods of from a dozen to twenty were 
cut off and allowed to return to the sea. 

"All the seals and espei-ially the larger ones showed signs of iatigue. They 
appeared to be hot and excited, and a cloud of steam rose constantly from the mov- 
ing animals. This steam had a strong musky smell. When the herd stopped, indi- 
vidual seals would often sprawl out on the ground, r.vising their hind flippers and 
waving them fan-like evidently in an effort to cool off'. After resting a moment the 
seals were ready to move on apparently refreshed. Continuous exertion is evidently 
hartl on them, but they quickly recover from exhaustion. As soon as the flock comes 
to rest after a few moments' breathing they begin to bite one aTu>ther and push in an 
unconcerned fashion until they are remind.ed by the absence of their companions that 
they must keep moving. 

"The seals were not urged forward, but were allowed to take their own time. 
When the herd was Ijronght to rest for a few minutes, the rear man started them on 
by clapping his hands or by rattling a stick on a rock. Our presonce evidently 
urged the seals and made the drive really harder than it would ordinarily have been. 
The Aleuts seem to have a way of handling the seals that they understand. 

"A short distance brought us to the eud of the grassy plain and into an area of 
ground tilled with embedded bowlders. These were for the most part flat and worn 
smooth. It looked like hard ground for the seals, buc in reality they seem to get 
over it better than the flat ground. Ou the flat there was constant crowding, while 
here the rocks kei)t the seals apart. Besides the animals are more familiar with the 
rocky ground, their breeding rookeries with few exceptions being on the rocky 
beaches. 

"After passing over a slight ridge where the passageway became narrowed by 
projecting clift's and where there was a good deal of crowding and scrambling, the 
drive left the bowlder-strewn path and passed into a valley overgrown with tall 
Elymus grass and lying between rows of sand dunes fllso grass-grown. The seals 
seem to be refreshed by the moisture of the grass, which was wet with dew and rain. 

"This grassy ])lain led into the top of the bowlder-set slo])e above Zolotoi sands, 
from which the earlier seals were dri\'en. The seals passed down this sIojjc without 
difiBculty and came into the level sand flat. Here the first really hard work of the 
drive began. The seals seemed to tind their greatest difficulty in walking on the 
yielding sand. Their flippers take hold of the rocks like rul)ber, but slip back in 
the sand. No rocks prevented the animals from crowding. They stepped on each 
other's flippers, became much excited, and seemed generally worried. 

"But in a few minutes the sands were passed and the herd emerged into the grass- 
grown killing ground. As soon as the seals came to a standstill, they seemed to 
forget their troubles innnediately. They began biting, snarling, and blowing at one 
another as though nothing had happened. They were at once turned into the little 
lake lieside the killing groun<l to cool ofl:' and were then herded up on the bank to 
rest Itefore their turn came to be killed. 

"It was five minutes after five when the first herd reached the killing ground. 
The second arrived three-quarters of an hour afterwards, having taken more time 
on the way. 

"Killing was already begun when we reached the ground. The Zolotoi seals, 
which had come in about 3 o'clock, having rested in the meantime, were killed first. 

"The larger pods of seals were in turn separated into smaller ones containing 
from 20 to .50 each. These were driven up one after another and the killable ones 
culled out by clubbing them ou the head; those too small or too large to kill were 
allowed to escape and were driven into the water. Some of these, released on the 



40 

eastern side of the peninsula early in the killing, had already made the circuit of 
the Iveef and were again hauled out on Zolotoi in time to be included in the second 
herd <lriven in. 

"The blow with the dub on the head nmders the seal instantly unconscious, and 
befoie the animal recovers it is bled by being stuck to the heart. The skin is at 
once taken oil' and thrown ui)ou the grass to cool, the carcasses being allowed to rot 
on the Held. The killing is under the immediate direction of the agent of the com- 
pany and the native chief and iu the j)reseiice of the Treasury agent. By a judicious 
division of the lal)or the various processes connected with the killing and skinning 
of the seals go on at once, and in a few minutes after the last seal is clubbed the 
skinning is completed. 

"The total number driven this morning was 1,908, of which number 1,059 were 
rejected and 819 killed. Of tlie rejected seals ,521 were too sumll and 51^8 too large to 
furnish skins of the requisite grade. 

'' From what has been said of thi' carcass-strewn roadways of the drives and the 
terrible effects of over-exertion on the seals, we were prejiaied to see greater evi- 
dence of exhaustion and to see the animals droj) l)y tlie wayside to be killed and 
skinned there. Not a seal died by the way, and in half an hour the herd had appar- 
ently entirely recovered from the etiects of the drive. 

"Tiie morning, however, was favorable for driving, the fog continuing and 
shutting out the sun. It is when the sun shines or the morning proves close 
and warm that the seals suiter. The sun seldom a])|>ears during .juue and July 
(the avi-rage tor these mouths being less than a full day of sunshine in ten years), 
when the driving is done, and little difficulty is experienced." 

This Keef drive on St. Paul is the longest and S(?verest drive now made on the 
island. All the other drives are short, and with the exception of the drives from 
Tolstoi and English Bay, where the drives pass over short stretches of sand, the 
courses over which the seals are driven are level or slightly rolling and always 
grass-grown. 

On St. George the drive from Staraya Artil is between 2 and 3 miles in length, 
with no difficult places, and small ponds at intervals, through which the seals are 
driven and allowed to cool otf. 

A DKIVE ON MKDNI ISLAND. 



In order to appreciate the comparative ease of the drives on the Pribilof Islands; 
it is only necessary to contrast them with those on the Commander Islaiuls. The fol- 
lowing de8cri])tion of a drive ironi the rookery called Zapadni, on Medni (Copper) 
Islan<l, is (pioted from Dr. Stejneger's report for 189.") on the fur seals of the Com- 
mander Islands: 

"The weather was just right ibr ducks and fur seals, aud, consequently, we started 
out this morning at 6 a. m. in a drizzling rain. There was no help ibr it. The drive 
could not be postponed, aud as I was going to photograph, rain or no vain, the 
cameras were taken along; the weather might possibly l)e better on the other side 
of the island, but it was not. 

"As indicate<l yesterday, all the rookeries had to be scraped in order to make even 
a small drive, and since I could ouly be in one place at a time, I selected to go with 
the party taking the drive at Zapadni. Here altogether about 2.50 aninuils were 
finally gatheied together aud the driving started in ihree divisions. This could 
easily be done, tor there were certainly eriough ])(>o])le to attend to each <li\ision, 
there being no less than 30 full-grown men and about- half a dozen buys. A\'hat a 
diffei'ence from former days, when two men or boys were all that could !ie spared for 
divisions of about 200 seals each ! Most of the animals were killable bachelors, a 
few females and undersized bachelors having l>ecn separated out as the drive went 
on before the steep ascent was reaidied. Thus far 1 have only with certainty dis- 
covered on(i female driven across the mountain. 

"The road was very wet and slippery, both from the long grass and the smooth 
clay, M'hich here tbrnis the chief material covering the underlying rock, and the 
ascent was, therefore, a very laborious one. The middle part of it is very steep, and 
in one place steps havc^ been cut in the ground so as to facilitate the climbing. The 
altitude of the pass forming the highest point on this drive is about 760 feet. 

"The seals soon commenced to give out, and the men resorted to all sorts of goad- 
ing them on, short of killing, in order to get as many of the seals as possible alive 
to the killing ground at the village, since they wanted the uu^at badly. Only when 
a seal could absolutely go no farther, after having been urged on by being poked and 
beaten with sticks^ ouly then it was killed and. skinned; l)ut not even then iu all 
cases, ibr, if it was a small and therefore particularly tender animal, it was grabbed 
by the hind legs and dragged along until some stee]) decdivity was reached, down 
which it was then fiung. Vet a good many had to be killed along the road. Little 
girls and still smaller boys arrived now with big skiu bags on their backs to carry 



41 

home tlie skins ami choice parts of the meat. The last division, as well as about 100 
seals from Palata rookery, reached the level ground behind Glinka village at 10 a. m., 
and were given a rest there. 

"At 11 o'clock the linal drive in four divisions was begun toward the killing ground 
near the beach (not 300 yards) west of the village. Down the steep embankment 
(fully 60 feet high) the numerous drives have worn a deep channel-like rut in the 
slippery clay, and down this chute the animals came rushing as if it were a toboggan 
slide. They slid down in bunches together and became piled up at the bottom in big 
heaps. As they were now driven over the sand of the l)each a lew undersized seals 
and a solitary matka or two were sorted out and allowed to escape into the water, 
but the linal culling was done on the killing ground. Altogether 47 undersized 
animals were thus driven over the mountain and tiually permitted to go back into 
the sea. 

"These young animals let loose on the sandy beach afforded great sport for the 
younger generation of future seal killers — if seals there be left when they grow up. 
Four little tots, 5 or 6 years old, with sticks in their hands, tried to drive into the 
water two young seals too tired to advance farther and asking nothing but to be 
allowed to lie down and rest. The seals resented the attack, and the four little fel- 
lows hit them over the head and snout with their sticks, as they had seen their 
parents do with the big ones, and linally succeeded in driving them into the sea." 

DRIVEWAYS ON MEDNI, 

The following are Dr. .Jordan's held notes of the driveways on Zapadni and Palata, 
made on August 25, 1896. 

"Zajiadni driveway: The drive from Zapadni goes up from the stony beach 
between two towers of rocks, climbing the gorge of a little brook which cuts into 
the bowlders and clay of the hillside, an excessively hard, rough little gully, very 
difficult for a man to climb, there being small cascades and wet clay in its course. 
The way is marked by road skeletons. 

"After an ascent over ground of this sort for 300 or 100 feet, more or less, the drive 
goes up through stee)> grassy slopes, some of them of soft clay, somewhat c nt into 
rough ste]i8 by men's boots. The general character of the ground is unrelieved, 
although more or less broken by cross gullies and ridges. The final ridge is 760 feet 
above the sea. 

"On the Glinka side is a long slope, at first quite steep, everywhere grassy and 
rather easy, but marked with road skeletons, as it is very long. The rye grass grows 
longer below, and a little stream has deep dejjressions, which serve as death traps, 
as the skeletons show when the seals fall in piles one over another. Above Glinka 
is a stee]) slide of yellow clay, from which the village is said to have received its 
name. This slide must be a hard place for the seals. The seals (few in nuiuher) 
that arc released b(;cause too young or too old are allowed to go down to the sea, 
whence they go back to t!ie west side again. 

"Palata driveway: The drive from Palata is now rarely made, as the seals have 
grown so few. They are killed all along the beach, and the myriads of flies about 
the decaying carcasses must be the source of great annoyance to breeding seals. 

" The drive ascends from the parade ground on the top of the landslide. This was 
formerly occupied by bachelors. But there are no -eparate droves of bachelors now. 
They are scattered in little clumps about and bttwei n the rookerie-i. 

"The drive then for about 100 feet ascends a grassy cliff so steep that steps have 
been dug in it to facilitate climbing. Then follows some 700 feet of irregular but 
very steep slope, in which the easiest depressions are sought, though the hill is 
everywhere about as steep as a man can climb, and one who goes up it aiust cling to 
the grass. Above this slope the drive reaches the back of the kuile like ridge that 
separates Palata from Zapalata. This widens out into an easy level plateau for 
about 20 rods, marked with I'oad skeletons. The elevation is ;S0 feet by Dr. 
Stejneger's map. 

"Then ibllows a steep climb up gravel and clay, with scanty grass and heather, 
worn into steps, the driveway bounded on the southwest by a slanting precipice that 
lies above Sabatcha Dira. A steep shouliler of heather and small ])lants is followed 
by a final cliuib into the clouds to the summit of the pass, 1,220 feet above the sea. 

"From the snuuuit an abrupt descent leads down a distance of 500 feet by a zig- 
zag trail as steep as a horse could pass over, strewn with gravel and covered with 
low flowers, to the bed of a swift little brook. This stream flows down into a grassy 
basin, the slope becouung less and less, the rye grass and putchki growing taller. 
At the junction of this stream flowing into the little brook to the west this drive 
merges into the one from Zapadni. 

"The drive from Palata is not in anyplace so difficult as the gully just above 
Zapadni, but it is half higher and twice as long — a trip one could not take on horse- 
back, nor would it be easy to lead a horse over it. Comxiariug it with conditions on 



42 

St. Paul, the Palata Pass is as steep as the cone of B()j!;oslof, twice as hiji^h, and is 
without water. Coiupareil with the severest drive on St. i'aul. it would staud as the 
aseeut of Mount lilauc to a walk in the park. It is a very fatiguinj^ trip for a man. 
It took nie, walkinjf rapidly, thirty-eight minutes (deducting .stoi)S) from Palata to 
the grassy level 860 feet; thence twenty-eight minutes to tlie to]), 1,220; fifteen 
minutes down the upper slojie, and lifteen more to Glinka."' 

And yet, notwitlistandiug the severity of the drives of the Commander Islands, no 
harm lias resulted to the breeding herds of these islands from this cause. 

EFFECT OF KILLING HEALS ON THEIR FELLOAVS. 

Among the evils of the process of killing the seals which have been dwelt upon is 
the abjeit fear and terror supposed to be inspired in the sr-al by the killing of his 
comi>anious, the seals even "shedding tears." As to this we may notice that the 
males shed tears ])rofusely when roaring or groaning in their oriliuary affairs of life, 
these tears i'orming wet strips across the fur of their cheeks. 

From Held notes of Mr. Lucas we take the following: 

"There is no doubt that the seals are frightened when driven nj) to the clubbers, 
but they have just as much fear of the boy who is guarding one side of a group of 
1,000 seals as they have of the men who are about to knock them or their compan- 
ions on the liead. Their fear is instinctive and irrational, and is not due to any 
reasoning process or any dread of what is to come. It is largely caused by the dis- 
comfort of being crowded together. So little true fear do these beasts possess that 
the seals in a pod before the killers will snap at each other just the same as if they 
were being crowded by their neighbors in the hauling grounds. So far from ])eiiig 
crazed with fright, when turned loose they are as liable as not to stop within 50 
yards of the killing and there rest and scratch for half an hour. 

"The stolid behavior of the seals on the killing grounds has long been remaxked, 
and pitiful tales of their mad fright, being crazed by the sight of their slaughtered 
companions, and frantic efforts to escape are utter rubbish. The behavior of the first 
seal turned loose determines the behavior of the rest of the herd. If he hurries, the 
others hurry, and each one eggs on the other; if he stops to rest, all subsequently 
rejected stop to rest. 

"Nor does the sight or smell of blood affect the animal more than a pebble or a 
piece of driftwood would. 

"A bull was seen sniffing at a pool of blood without exhibiting either anger or 
alarm. Evidently so long as the blood was not his own it did not matter." 

CHILLING OF SEALS. 

"It has also often been urged that great loss of life ensues from the sudden chill- 
ing of overheated seals turned loose from their long drive and the excitement of the 
killing. But, intentionally or unintentionally, it is not stated that these seals have 
been absolutely quiet for half an hour to an hour, and that their "long drive" is in 
reality only 100 to 200 yards from the drove of waiting seals to the killing gang. 
Moreover, few of them return directly to the sea, for it is against the principles of a 
fur seal to do anything directly, the majority resting from half an hour to an hour 
before plunging into the water, which is not icy cold, but, like the air, has a temper- 
ature of io"- to •48'^ F." 

AFTER EFFPXTS OF THE DlilVE. 

There is no evidence of any particular evil after effects of driving. The examina- 
tion of many bodies on the killing grounds shows no trace of injury other than in a 
few cases a very slight congestion of the lungs arising from overheating. But three 
dead bachelors have been found on St. Paul this summer. This and other consider- 
ations show that the injuries resulting from drives, unless immediately fatal, are 
unimportant. A bull which can maintain himself on the rookeries is strong, virile, 
and capable of meeting any demands made ujion him. 

ALLEGED IMPAIRMENT OF VIRILITY. 

There is not the slightest foundation for the supposition that driving impairs the 
virility of the bulls. This theory may have been based on the supposition that 
owing to the exi^josed position of the testes in the male animal they were liable to 
injury when he was in motion. The violent voluntary movements of the bulls on 
the breeding grounds would be sufficient answer to this supposition. But it is 
found as a matter of fact that the testes are under the control of the animal and are 



43 

withdrawn into the bodj' cavity wheu he is in motion, thns being entirely protected 
from injury. Furtbermore, for the first tliree years, or during tlie period when the 
bachelors are most liable to driving, the testes are retained in the abdomen, and only 
come down into the scrotum in the fourth year. 

NOT WISE TO PROHIBIT CULLIXG OF DRIVES. 

It would therefore not be necessary or wise to require the lessees to kill every fur 
seal they drive up. The skins of the " wigged " seals or half bulls are almost worth- 
less as fur. To kill yearlings and short 2-year-olds would be extremely wasteful, as 
the value of the skin th<' following year would be much greater. If, however, the 
males were killed as closely as they should be, it would not be necessary to drive 
and redrive the half bulls and bulls as they have Iteen driven this sunnner. The 
breeding grounds are now overstocked with bulls. "When the need of a new supply 
of male life for the breeding grounds is felt, there should be reserved eacli year of 
the killablo males a sufdcieut number to replenish the stock, all others being killed. 
The quota should not be a fixed one, but should represent all ki liable seals obtain- 
able after the proper reserve for breeding purposes has been made. 

HERPIXG OF CULLED BACHELORS. 

It would be possible to herd the culled male seals in the Salt Lagoon and other 
bodies of water, if deemed advisable, to prevent redriviug. These ponds could be 
fenced, aud in them, as we have shown by experiment, large bodies of seals could 
be retained for two or three weeks or during the killing period. This would have, as 
matters now arc, the more inqiortant advantage of saving them from the pelagic 
sealer. The feniales could not be thus herded without great danger to their i)ups, as 
without food the milk glands would become dry. If the driving were closed on .July 
20, much of the present culling would be avoided, as the great body of the yearlings 
arrive after that date. 

INJURED BULLS. 

There are to be found in the suumier a certain small number of bulls, mostly young 
ones, which are away from the herd and which are apparently suffering. These have 
been described as "impotent bulls," "outcasts from the rookeries," "broken and 
spiritless victims of the drives," etc. Dissection of these shows that in all cases 
they have been injured in fights with other bulls or by pelagic sealing. A number 
of them have been shot for museum purposes. Among those examined, broken ribs, 
injured jjelvis, hernia, broken flippers, dislocated shoulders, and gunshot wounds 
have been found to be the cause of their withdrawal from activity. Some of these 
were ambitious young bulls which ventured beyond their class. Most of them ulti- 
mately recover and return to their fellows. 

CASTRATION. 

There is only one record of an adult bull which was actually impotent. This one 
had been castrated by some accident. He had no " wig," but retained the full, soft 
fur of the .Syear old. Judging from its effect on this animal, it was thought that 
castration might be practiced to a limited extent, at least, thus securing a larger 
and heavier grade of skin by allowing the animal to live until 4 or 5 years of age. 
Experiment, however, showed the matter to be difficult, and on a large scale perhaps 
impracticable. A pup taken from Lnkanin rookery was castrated, the operation 
being performed by Dr. Otto Yoss, the resident physician of the North American 
Commercial Company. It was skillfully and successfully done, and the pup, branded 
across the head to mark him, was returned in good condition to the rookery. Sub- 
sequent search failed to find him, dead or alive. It will be interesting to know 
whether he ever apjiears on the killing grounds. 

The practical difficulty in the way of castration lies in the fact that the testes are 
under control of the animal and can be drawn up far into the inguinal canal. 
Experiment on a dead jjup showed the organs apparently in a convenient location, 
bnt in the living pup it was necessary to cut very deeply and for each organ sepa- 
rately, thus making the operation long and tedious. An additional difdculty lies in 
the fact that the incisions must be made in an exposed place, where the wounds come 
in contact with the ground when the animal moves about. But doubtless the cold- 
ness of the atmosphere, the scarcity of microbes and flies, and the frequent plunges 
into salt water all favor the rapid healing of any wound on the fur seals. 



44 



XVII. MORTALITY OF ADULT FUR SEALS ON THE ISLANDS. 

The following is a record of tlie adult seals fouud dead on the islands August 5 to 14 : 



Rookery. 


Cows. 


Bulls. 


Bachelors. 


ST. PAUL. 









Kitovi... 
Lukanin. 
Lagoon . . 



Tolstoi 

Zapadni 

Little Zapatlni. 
Zapjidni Reef . . 

Gorbatch 

Ardiguen 

Reef' 

Polovina 

Vostochui 

Morjovi 



ST. GEORGE. a 



North 

Little East . . . 

East 

Zapadni 

Staraya Artil. 

Total... 



28 



a Bulls and bachelors not counted. 

In most cases the deaths in question occurred early, in the height of the breeding 
season, and the bodies when examined were so far decayed as to render an autopsy 
impossible. 

The death of the bulls on the rookeries was no doubt in nearly all cases due to 
injuries received in tights with other bullf!. The most common of these, cuts on 
head, shotilder, or back, are seldom fatal; but occasionally a tleeper wound is made, 
prodnciuv; hernia or suppuration and sometimes fracture of the ribs or pelvis. A 
dislocated shoulder or broken foretlipper would cause drowning. One bull was 
found blinded by buckshot in the head. The few bulls found dead oti' the rookeries 
are largely those injured by gunshot while on the migrations. Immature males and 
females are rarely found dead on the islands. Of the females found dead in the 
rookeries, nearly all are probably victims of the struggles of the bulls. A few have 
died in parturition, but here the cause of death is pndiably a bite in the .small of the 
back by some bull attemi)ting to form a harem by stealing cows. Two cows came 
in near Sea Lion Neck (Morjovi), North East Point, which had been shot liy unknown 
poachers in July. There is evidence that others were thus shot. The following is 
our field record of cows which had been shot in Jul}' belbre the recognized opening 
of Bering Sea to the pelagic lleet: 

" Foloriii<(, Jiilji J3. — At the southwest end of the clitis is a wet cow, just in from 
the sea, with bloody shot lioles in her shoulder, the shot apparently having passed 
through. She was not killed and will recover. 

" Morjovi, JiiJji 24. — A fresh cow also floated in to-day on the beach below Sea Lion 
Neck and was skinned by the guard. She had lieen lately killed by buckshot, there 
being bloody shot holes in the neck. Evidently i)irates are already abroad. The 
carcass was exandned. The cow was lean and in milk, but not much milk evi- 
dent. Seemed to lie an old cow from what I could tell by the ovaries, which were 
somewhat injured by the rude dissection of the skinner. I find shot holes through 
the oesophagus, in one side and out the other; also a shot hole through the glottis and 
one in the pericardium. The heart was full of clotted blood. The stomach was 
empty. The llesh is i)eriectly fresh, not more than two or tliree days dead. The 
cojv died near the shore and was washed uiion the licach. She was perhaps shot at 
some distance away and became worn out by long swimming. The skin was salted 
and taken in evidence of poaching from some quarter. 

"Morjovi, July 25. — Another row was washed on shore this morning near Sea Lion 
Neck. This one had been dead a day or two longer than the preceding. She was 
very fat and bad a large unborn pup. A number of buckshot holes in the back and 
sides show the cause of death. Thisskin salted and retained in evidence of poaching." 

Occasionally cows that have been speared come ashore. Some are mortally 
■wounded ; * others recover. One cow was found dead at high-water mark on Lukanin 

*A cow was found dead at Vostochni that had been speared in the belly, then 
clubbed. Escaping from the sealer, she had been drowned in the surf on landing. 



45 

in Septeuiber. A fish boue had lodged in her throat and pierced one of the veins 
of the neck. Her stomach was full of blood. She might have drowned or may have 
bled to death. 

NO SPECIFIC DISEASES. 

There is no evidence of any specific disease, epidemic, or malady among the seals. 
All recorded deaths of seals, old or young, are due to violence, stnrvation, or drowning. 

XVIII. MORTALITY OF PUPS. 

A. TRAMPLED PUPS. 

The nursing pups found dead on the islands fall into two distinct categories : First, 
those which perish early in the season very soon after birth; second, those which 
starve to death after the middle of August because of the loss of their mothers at 
sea as a result of pelagic sealing. The deaths from other sources are so few as to 
cut no figure. These two groups may Ije separately treated. 

Of the first category, those dying early, 11,045 in all were found on the two islands. 
Before the first week in August the ferocity of the bulls was such as to make it 
impossible to enter the rookeries or even to obtain a dead pup for dissection except 
on rare occasions, when, bj' means of a fish hook attached to a long pole a few out- 
lying specimens were secured. On August 5 it was found possible, though with 
considerable difficulty, to enter the breeding grounds. On this date the count of 
dead pups was begun, and completed on August 12. The bulls, cows, and pups were 
driven oft' and every part of each rookery walked over and carefully iuspected. The 
counting on St. Paul Island was done for the most part by Mr. Macoun, Mr. Clark, 
and myself. Mr. Lucas and Professor Thompson followed after to dissect and exam- 
ine such carcasses as were in condition fresh enough to handle. The count of dead 
pups on St. George Island was made on August 16 and 17 by Mr. Macoun and Mr. 
Lucas, assisted by Colonel Murray. The count was extremely thorough, but must 
fall somewhat below the actual total for, while none were counted twice, some must 
have been overlooked or lost in crevices of the rocks. 

Below are the counts of the two islands by rookeries : 

St. Paul : 

Kitovi 109 

Lagoon 78 

Lukanin 205 

Tolstoi 1,895 

Zapadni 3, 095 

Little Zapadni 134 

Zapadni Reef 104 

Gorbatch 712 

Ardiguen , 2 

Reef 950 

Sivutch Rock 50 

Polovina 635 

Little Polovina 47 

Vostochni 1, 808 

Morjovi 485 

Total 10,309 

St. George: 

Korth 259 

Little East 31 

East 112 

Zapadni 199 

Staraya Artil 135 

Total 736 

Grand total 11, 045 

This number foujid dead in early August on St. Paul was about 8^ per cent of the 
total number of pups (123,048). On St. George it was about 3| per cent of the total 
(20,023). The difterence between the percentages ou the two islands arises from the 
fact that the rookeries on St. George are smaller, less crowded, and contain fewer 
death traps. A greater number on St. George may have been carried off" by the 
blue fox. 



46 

UNEQUAL DISTHIBUTIOX Ol IliAMPLED PUl'S. 

The dead pups were found to be very unequally distributed. On the rocl<y rook- 
eries, as Kito\ i and Little Zapadni, ou steeper inclines, as at the south end of 
Gorbatch, dead pups were very few in number. 

DEATH TJ{APS. 

In the level tracts, and especially in sandy depressions or concave gullies, where 
seals were closely massed, the number Avas snrprisinj^ly great. Smooth areas, 
where the female seals are gathered in wedge-shaped masses, and where there are 
no obstacles to hinder the movements of the bulls and no rocks under which pups 
can hide, are recognizable as death traps. The worst death traps are on Tol- 
stoi and Zapadni, but others exist on Poloviua, Vostochni, Morjovi, Keef, and 
Gorbatch. The percentage of these early deaths from causes other than staivation 
ranges from (me-third of 1 per cent (Ardiguen) to 13 per cent (Tolstoi sands) of the 
total number of pups. 

For a clearer understanding of what is meant by death traps the iollowiug notes 
from the journal of daily observations may be quoted : 

" I'olovina, Atnjust 10. — The sandy area at the angle of Poloviua rookery and lead- 
ing back into the l)asiu-like depression, hard and without bowlders, was an impor- 
tant death traj). The harems were here crowded together. Three hundred and 
lifty-six dead pu]»s were found in this area." 

'• Tolstoi sands,' August iJ. — The great area of hard, sloi)iug sand on Tolstoi was 
found to contain 1,490 dead pu])8, the vast majority- of them having been killed at 
the beginning of the season while the Tinibilical cord was still attached. Early in 
the season this region was covered so thickly with seals that they looked like a great 
swarm of bees. This part of Tolstoi is the densest of all the rookeries. It is justly 
called a death trap because it affords no obstacles to the movements of the bulls and 
no protection to the pu2)s. The bowlders at the foot of the sand are no better than 
the riat itself, because of the downward pressure of the seals massed above. Where 
the dead pups are especially numerous was the center of the large wedge-shaped 
mass which reached out toward the angle of the sand beach where the bachelors 
haul out. Doubtless the eflbrt of the bachelors in endeavoring to make a short cut 
to the sea is responsible for much of the lighting at this point. The uppermost por- 
tion of the mass of seals is ]irotected by the ledge of rociis behind. Above the 
northernmost green cliff on Tolstoi are also many dead pui)S, the door of the rookery 
being here made up of flat rock with occasional bowlders in place. There are many 
concave depressions, and the few bowlders are too far apart to offer much protection." 

"Zapachn, August 14. — Xext comes the so-called Zapadni gnlly, the most effective 
death trap for pups on the island. This is a long, winding depression, 1 or 2 rods in 
width, broadening at intervals and narrowest at the lowest part just before it spreads 
out into the Ijroad sandy flat which lies al)ove the rounded l)owlders of the beach. 
All parts of this gully were tilled with dead pups, but ])articularly that part just 
above the wall of green rocks which bounds it to the south. Very many dead i>ups 
w"ere also found on the bowlders l)elow, near the water's edge."' 

" In this depression in the height of the season much fighting was seen among the 
bulls, and there was no protection for the pups or hindrance to the movements of 
the bulls. In addition to this, bands of roving bachelors come down the runway at 
the upper end of the gulley and pass through the harems to the water. In the breed- 
ing season the eutrance of a half bull in this gully is the signal for a general tight 
iintil he is thrown out at the lower end. The bachelors are tempted to use this runway 
because it is smoother than the ordinary way over the rocks. The gully and the sand 
beach below contained 663 dead pups." 

eai:ly death of thampled pups. 

Of the pups here discussed the vast majority were killed in June or early July. 
Most of them had the umbilical cord still attached. It is evident that their death 
was caused by being trampled upon by the bulls while very young and helpless. 
Later the pups creep under the shelter of rocks or gather in pods about the rook- 
eries or on tlio beaches, and the number killed by bulls is ver\' much reduced. There 
is, however, among the earlier dead a certain number of large, w^ll-nourished pups, 



* In 1891 and 1892 large numbers of dead pups wore seen on Tolstoi by Mr. Macoun 
and others, the number being estimated by ]\Ir. Macoun at 1,000 or more. This esti- 
mate has been (|uestioned, but it is not impossible even if no starved pups were 
included in the enumeration. There were then many more seals on Tolstoi, and, as 
the photographs show, harems extended farther out on the sands. 



47 

perhaps 250 iu all on the tvro islands, Avhioh have been killed by the bnlls at the age 
of from 2 to 6 -weeks. Dissection of these large pups shoAvs in most ( ases collapsed 
or congested lungs, occasionally ruptured blood vessels, broken skull, or other evi- 
dences of \ iolence. But two cases of death by trampling were known to have occurred 
after August 10. 

LOST PUPS. 

In the early part of August a certain number of pups, perhaps 200 in all on both 
islands, were found to have died of starvation. Some of these were doubtless early 
victims of pelagic sealing. The greater part, however, must have been pups that 
had lost their mothers through the struggles of the bulls or by mischance at sea. 
Some had strayed from the rookeries beyond tiie call of their mothers to the hauling 
grounds or elsewhere. Within the confines of the roolveries themselves very few of 
the pups become lost, as both pup and mother soon learn to recognize each otiier's 
call. 

DKOWXED PUPS, 

A few pups are drowned, but the number lost in this way is very small. On some 
rookeries exposed to heavy surf (Tolstoi and Lagoon) a few young ones not yet able 
to swim well are swc])t away or are caught iu the crevices of the rocks by tlie rising 
tide and drowned before they can extricate themselves. As soon, however, as the 
pup is able to swiiu well, its ada]itation to the water is so perlect as to enable it to 
frequent the sea at all times and iu all conditions of weather with impunity. In the 
heaviest surf that broke on St. Paul in October thousands of pups were always to be 
seen playing in the breakers, and none were seen to be injured. The ability of the 
pups to take care of themselves in rough water has been underestimated. 

Of 232 pups thrown up by the surf on the sands of English Bay about August 1, 
not one was found to have been drttwned. Thej' were simply trami)ledpui)S, which 
the surf of the storm of the previous day had washed down from the lower portions 
of the adjoining rookery — Tolstoi — the most crowded of all the rookeries. The 
"deadly surf nip," therefore, is a ligure of 8i)eech, and drowning is a factor of very 
slight importance in the destruction of pups. A few drowned pups are, however, on 
record, and of the whole 11,045, possibly 200 died from this cause. 

OTHER CAUSES OF DEATH. 

A few other pups are injured l)y the bite of cows, by falling from cliffs, by the fall 
of rocks, by the pinching of rocks shifted by the waves, by being imprisoned in 
cracks, liy inllammation of the lungs, kidneys, or intestines, and by unideiititied acci- 
dents. The Burgomaster gull is almost constantly ijreseut on some roolveries. It 
devours the eyes of ilead pups, and may occasionally l)lind or even kill a live one. 
The loss of eyes of four or five individuals is doubtfully attributed to this cause. 

These matters will be discussed in detail in the general report by jNIr. Lucas, who 
has the record of about 150 dissections. It should be remembered that only pups 
dying in early August were available for dissectio3i. None of the early trami)led 
ones could be secured until too far decayed, as it was impossible to enter the rook- 
eries in July. The cases examiuetl were, however, fairly typical, as pups were being 
born every day upo'.i the rookeries while the count was going on, and conditions were 
practically the same as earlier in the season, except that the fierceness of the bulls 
had greatly abated at the time of the dissections. 

The causes of death in the early part of the season may be thus roughly classified: 

Trampled upon by bulls when less than 2 weeks old 10, 295 

Trampled upon when 2 to 6 weeks old 250 

Starved to death 200 

Drowned 200 

Miscellaneous injuries , 100 

Total 11, 045 

The following notes are from the chapter on " The mortality among fur seals," pre- 
pared for the general re])ort hy Frederic A. Lucas: 

" The appended list of autopsies gives the date of examination, the locality whence 
the Ijodies were obtained, and states by whom the examinations were made. In 
making them nothing was taken for granted, not even in cases of evidently starved 
pups, while all bodies found in situations where they might have been drowned were 
carefully examined to ascertain whether or not this were really the case. Care was 
also taken not to confuse marks made by the pecking of gulls with contusions, for 
such injuries about the eyes and frontal region, when inflicted short! j' before or after 
death, may readily be mistaken for the actual cause of death. In two instances, 



48 

■where the Ciinse of death was not obvious and time permitted, the brain was exam- 
ined, but in neither case did it exhibit any congestion or other lesion to account for 
deatli. 

"Absence of fat, or of subcutaneous fat, may not mean as much as it shouhl to those 
unacquainted \Yith seals; in reality, it is ]>ractically synonymous with starvation, 
and if a seal lacks fat beneath the skin it is useless to look for it clscwhcrf. Fat is 
the seal's heavy undershirt, by which he is protected from cold, and when this is 
gone the seal is gone? too. 

THE STAKVED PUP FROM ZAPADNI. 

"In order that there might be no question as to the evidences of starvation, an 
active, healthy female pup ibund among the bachelors was iilaced by itself, its 
condition at various times noted, and an autopsy made after death. In order to 
have the same conditions that are found on the rookeries, the body was allowed to 
lie out of doors, exposed to the weather, for two days before it was dissected. The 
results of the autopsy agreed exactly with the diagnosis of starvation in man as well 
as with the appearances of the organs in other pups whose death was ascribed to 
starvation. When tirst taken, on August 1, the pup weighed 12 pounds; at the time 
of death, on August 15, the weight was reduced to 9 pounds. The appearance of the 
organs was as follows: Lungs small, tiaccid, deeply congested; comparatively little 
blood in heart, aud no clot ; liver small, thin, and vei;y dark ; gall bladder full ; much 
dark bile secretion in intestines, forming the 'tarry faices,' so characteristic of 
starvation ; kidneys small and dark ; both branches of uterus congested. 

THE CRUSHED PUP. 

"It may be said, too, that a blind pup was killed on Zapadui by choking and 
crushing, much as might have occurred had the little one been sat upon by a bull, 
or trampled beneath a score of stampeding cows, and that the lungs showed the 
characteristic congestion found in the lungs of evidently trampled bodies. 

AUTOPSIES OF DEAD PUPS SELECTED AS TYPICAL CASES BY MR. LUCAS. 
POLOVINA KOOKEKY. 

[August 6. Examined by Dr. Otto Voss .and D. S. Jordan.] 

"No. 1. Male, large and well nourished; stomach containing some milk; pleural 
cavity contained about 1 gill of blood ; lungs crushed and collapsed, dark purple 
with congestion; liver much contused; right kidney contused; other organs normal. 
Trampled. 

"No. 2. Female, young, umbilical cord still present; well nourished; stomach 
empty; lungs crushed and congested, both lobes containing blood; heart much con- 
tused, its blood vessels congested; liver contused; kidneys and other organs intact. 
Trampled. 

Tolstoi Eookkry. 
[August 7. Examined by D. S. Jordan and F. A. Lucas.] 

"No. 10. Female, in fair condition ; slight contusion in ujiper lobes of lungs; liver 
and gall bladder ruptured; intestines stained with escaped bile; other organs nor- 
mal. Trampled. 

"No. 11. Male, in fair condition, a trifle lean; left side contused throughout its 
entire length; the left lung congested and flattened; other organs normal. Evi- 
dently trodden upon, pressing the left side flat. 

"No. 13. Female, thin ; no milk in stomach ; head crushed ; suture between frontala 
and parietals opened ; all muscles of breast much contused ; lungs, throat, and heart 
badly contused. Struck or trampled on. 

"No. 14. Female, well nourished; born early in season, as fur is grayish. Found 
at water's edge, jammed between rocks. Eight lobe of lung contused, but crepi- 
tating. Contusion probably due to contact with rocks. Water in lungs and wind- 
pipe. Drowned. 

"No. 16. Female, recently dead, body still warm; absolutely no fat; lungs con- 
gested; liver thin and dark. Starved. 

"No. 2.5. Male, found on sand; rather thin; skin and muscles about shoulders 
much contused; lungs badly congested; heart and aorta full of clotted blood. 
Trampled. 



49 

KiTOVI ROOKEEY. 
[August 8. Examined by F. A. Lucas and U'Arcy AV. Thompson.] 

"No. 31. Female, fet; stomach containing nearly a quart of milk ; lungs normal, 
crepitatiug; no bruises visible: gall bladder full of orange-colored bile; intestines 
full 01 dark, shining, lluid excrement; lower intestine inflamed. Intestine taken 
to village and carefully examined. Inflammation of bowels. 

"No. 35. Male, in fair condition; lungs normal; liver also, the latter somewhat 
light in color (due to fat); gall bladder empty; intestines and kidneys normal; 
stomach empty, containing a few hairs. Cause of death not apparent. 

Reef Rookery. 

[August 8. Examined by F. A. Lucas and D'Arcy "W. Thompson. 

" No. .50. Female, good condition, fat; no inflammation of ])eritoneum; viscera 
normal, with exception of kidneys, which were soft and decomposed. Inflamma- 
tion of kidneys i)robably brought about by a blow on the back. 

LuKANiN Rookery. 
[August 9. Examined by I). S. Jordan.] 

"No. 55. Female, emaciated. Found dying, gasping and convulsed with spasms, 
and killed for examination. Stomach empty; no fat about body; viscera normal, 
but intestines full of dark greenish fecal matter. Starvation. 

"Note. — The symptoms given above are those which have been ascribed to 
sunstroke. 

GENERALIZATION. 

"To sum up the evidence condensed in the two tables, it may be said that early in 
the season deaths are numerous, and are almost solely due to trampling. By the 
middle of August the pups are so large and the conditions have so changed that 
under natural conditions deaths are rare. For the great mortality which has pre- 
vailed of late years in August, September, and October, starvation, resulting from 
the killing of females at sea, is the sole cause. 

"Another thing is also apparent — that contagious diseases play no part in the 
destruction of young seals. The only epidemic that has raged on the rookeries is 
an epidemic of quarrelsome bulls which sweeps over the breeding grounds with 
great regularity and remorseless severity. 

Aiitopxies of 103 J) tq) seals made between Au<just 5 and August 14. 

Cause of death not obvious 6 I Drowned 14 

Inflammation of lungs 1 Starved and trampled 7 



Inflammation of kidneys 1 

Inflammation of bowels 2 

Falling from clilfs 3 

Crushed beneath falling rocks 3 



Starved 24 

Trampled 42 



Total 103 

Autopsy of 17 puj) seals made between August 15 and September S. 

Inflammation of bowels 1 

Trampled 1 

Starved 15 

Total 17 

"The number of dissections might have been increased almost indefinitely by taking 
those pups which died of starvation after August 15, but after that date only two 
were seen which had not obviously starved to death. The 15 examined above were 
evidently starved, but they were dissected in order that there might be no question 
as to the cause of their death. 

List of dead pups obtained for dissection. 

St. Paul : ' St. Paul : 

Lagoon 2\ Zapadni 17 

Lukanin 3 Tolstoi 36 

Gorbatch 9 j St. George : 

Polovina 9 North Eookery 1 

Reef 13 

Vostochni 15 Total 122 

Kitovi 17 I 

7423 4 



50 

H. THE STAKVKU I'UPS. 

About the middle of Atigust another and iiiort' inipoitant canse of mortality sets 
Id. This is the starvation of pups througli the loss of their niotln-rs at sea. 

PKItlOU OF STAItVATlON. 

The younjjjer pups die in two weeks or somewhat less; the older ones in three or 
four weeks. 

One of the larj^est and oldest pups r)n St. Paul Island, one which had already 
accjuired its gray coat of winter, was found starved to death on Heef Kookery Sep- 
tember 8 and was preserved in alcohol. 'I'he first starved pu]) definitely known to 
be the victim of pelagic sealing- was noticed on Kitovi Kookery August 15. The 
last starving pup seen was killed for examination and measurement on the same 
rookery October 18. There were, however, very few starving pu{)s to be seen on the 
rookeries after October 7, and only an occasional one after the 15th On October 11 a 
thorough examination of the beach line of Reef Kookery on St. Paul, where 300 starv- 
ing pups were counted on September 29, failed to show any renuiining. Only 19 starv- 
ing pups were counted on the rookeries of St. (ieorge Island, October 6. 

After the pu])s have learned to swiiu well they spend most of their time in the 
water, often going long distances from the rookeries where they belong and not 
returning for days at a time. In the water they sleep, jday with one another, dive 
like ducks, and toss about pieces of seaweed, sticks, and other objects that come within 
their reach. From these actions it has been contended that the pups were capable of 
finding in September and October other food than milk, and were therefore not likely 
to starve even if they did lose their mothers. With a view to settling the ques- 
tion, upward of a score of ])ups were killed on tlie rookeries of St. Paul during these 
months under circumstances most favorable to throwing light on the matter. (See 
record on page 33.) 

CONTENTS OF PUPs' STOMACHS. 

For the most part pups taken at random on the rookeries were found with empty 
stomachs. Tlie few containing milk were either very full or nearly empty. Pups 
killed in the w;iter or immediately after coming ashore were found without exception 
to be full of milk. All stomachs contained pebbles. In two stomachs, one full of 
milk, the other empty — that of a starving pup— small crustaceans were found. In 
the latter stomach was also a quantity of dry seaweed. The stomach of a starving 
pup scarcely able to walk contained a soft-shelled crab. In a stomach otherwise 
empty was a small tunicate. Several stomachs had bits of shells; many liad shreds 
of seaweed. The foreign objects were found in stomachs well filled with milk as 
well as in empty ones. There was nothing in the examination to justify the suppo- 
sition that the objects were swallowed with a view to deriving nourishment from 
them. They were doubtless picked up by accident or in oliedience to the instinct 
which will "ultimately lead them to catcli fish. Interesting in this connection and 
apparently indicating that curiosity, and not desire for food, leads the pups to swal- 
low these things is the fact that from the stomachs of the 59 bachelors killed for 
food on October 15 an identical collection of objects was taken. It could not be 
supposed that they fed on them. 

EXCREiMEXT Oli" PUPS. 

While considering the question of the probability of the pups feeding, the sand 
beaches of Zolotoi, English Bay, and Lukanin were found to be strewn with small 
cylindrical pieces of excrement evidently voided by the pups which were swinnning 
by hundreds just ofi' the shore. An examination of the rectum and intestines of 
pups killed in the water showed the presence of excrement of the same color and 
consistency as that seen on the .shore. The presence of this excrement and the fact 
that only piips with full stomachs were found in the water, lead to the conclusion 
that the'pups, like the older seals, go into the water to digest their food, the actions 
commonly mistaken for feeding being simply the outgrowth of their playful and 
inquisitive dispositions. 

EVEKY ORPHAN PUP STARVES. 

The results of these examinations show that until as late as the 22d of October, 
or fully a month after the close of pelagic sealing, the fur seal pups are wholly 
dependent upon their mother's milk for nourishment. It is probable that the change 
to a tish diet does not occur until after mother and pup leave the island in November. 
It may therefore be stated as a fact beyond question that every jiup whose mother 
is killed at sea by the pelagic sealers must starve to death. To this there can be no 
exception. 



51 

COUNT OF STARVED PUPS. 

At the time of tlie first couut of dead pups in August, it was thought that in mak- 
ing the subsequent count of stiirved pups it wouhl be possible to distinguish between 
the earlier aud later deaths. But as the victims of starvation began to be added to 
the earlier dead pups it became evident that no such distinction could be made. It 
was therefore necessary in the second couut to include all recognizable dead carcasses 
to be found on the rookeries. From this number the total of the earlier count could 
be deducted, and thus the deaths due to starvation found. 

It was desired to postpone the second count as long as possible to give the pups 
time to starve. As the storms of September, however, began to be more violent the 
earlier carcasses began to disintegrate very rapidly, aud accordingly the count was 
begun on September 28 instead of October 1 as at first intended. 

As there evidently still remained a considerable number of starving pups, an effort 
was made to estimate them that they might be included in the count. Accordingly, 
Mr. Barrett-Hamilton and Mr. Murray, with native assistance, cleared the rookeries 
of seals in advance of the observers, driving them slowly into th(^ w^ater to afford an 
opportunity of countiug the weak aud dying pups. This couut was necessarily 
unsatisfactory, but Mr. Murray and Mr. Barrett-Hamilton agree that it is to be con- 
sidered an underestimate ratber than an overestimate, and the ligures are therefore 
not open to dispute. 

The count of starved pups was made jointly by Mr. Clark and Mr. Macoun. With 
practically no excepti<m every pup carcass was seen by one or the other of the two 
observers, and for the most pnrt by both. Where the rookeries were wide, lines were 
stretched across dividing them in uarow strips, which were traversed from end to 
end in nuxking the count. Where the breeding grounds were narrow, the space was 
divided lengthwise between the two men. aud with natives to help patrol the shore 
and outer edges the bodies were counted. The natives were not allowed to count 
but sim]dy to point out the location of carciisses. Mr. J. B. Crowley, chief Treasury 
agent on St. Paul, was present during the entire count, and assisted in pointing out 
pups and directing the natives. The work of counting was completed on October 1. 

It was evident, from the beginning, that some carcasses included in the count of 
August had disappeared through being drifted over by sand, washed away by the 
surf, or worn to pieces by the i>as8ingto and fro of the seals. It was agreed between 
Mr. Macoun and Mr. Clark that the matter should be kept in mind during the 
progress of the count, and if possible an agreement reached at the conclusion as to 
the necessary correction for the loss. It was mutually agreed that 20 per cent would 
cover the loss of early pups included in the first but not recognizable in the second 
count. 

The total count of dead pups in the second enumeration was found to be 20,331. 
To tins 20 per cent of the former count of 10,309, or 2,061, is to be added. The total 
number of starving pups counted was 1,527. A further addition of 150 must be 
made for dead bodies removed from the rookeries for dissection or other purposes 
after the first count but before the second. Adding these together, we have a total 
of 24,069. Deducting 10,309, the August count, the total number of starved pups 
for St. Paul Island in 1896 is found to be 13,760. 

The following is the couut in detail by rookeries: 

St. Paul Island. 



Rookery. 



Kitovi 

Lukanin 

Lagdon 

Tolstoi 

Zai)a(iiil 

Little Zapadni.. 
Zapadni Reef... 

Gorbatch 

Ardiguen 

Reef' 

Sivutch Rock . . 

Rolovina 

Little Polovina 

Vostocbni 

Morjovi 



October 1, 1896. 


Total (lead 


Starving 


pups. 


pups. 


609 


42 


579 


27 


316 


51 


2,449 


191 


4,395 


154 


69.3 


64 


327 


18 


1,878 


126 


78 


8 


2,786 


300 


284 


31 


1,555 


55 


119 


22 


3,313 


329 


950 


109 



Total I 20,331 ! 1,527 



52 

After waiting four days for an opportunity to get on board the vessel, the Com- 
missioners were transferred to St. George Island by the revenue cutter Bear. On 
Oetober (5 the count of St. George was made. Owing to the uncertainty of the 
landing, Mr. IJarrett-Haniilton, assisted by Treasury agent, Mr. James .Judge, iriade 
the count on East and Little East rookeries, wliile Mr. Clark and Mr. Macouu counted 
Zapadni, Staraya Artil, and North rookeries. The same methods were employed as 
at St. Paul. 

The following is the result in detail of the count on St. George, the result of the 
count made in August being reproduced for purposes of comparison: 

St. Georfje laUuiiJ. 





Rookery. 


August, 

1896. 

Dead pups. 


October 6 


1896. 




Total (lead 
pup.s. 


Starving 
pups. 


North 




i 


259 
V^5 
199 
112 
31 


145 
194 ' 

527 i 
15 
16 


7 








3 








4 


East 






i 


Little East 






1 










Total 




736 


897 1 

1 


19 











FOXES ON ST. GEORGE. 

The result of the count on St. George was a suri)rise and a disai)])oiiitment. It was 
found that the blue foxes, which are very numerous and bold, had eaten all the dead 
pups. Only two whole carcasses were found on the island. It was necessary, there- 
fore, to make the count from skulls, spinal columns, or skins. Very few of the pups 
belonging to the first count remained and the remains of the lately eaten starved 
pups were found scattered everywhere and chiefly away from the ground occupied 
by the seals. East and Little East rookeries seemed to have sutt'ered tlie greatest 
loss, and there the work of the foxes was most thorough, prol)ably because these 
rookeries, which are not large, are the only ones on the eastern side of the island. 

A hiSs number of pups were found m October on North, East, and Little East 
rookeries than were found in August. This does nut mean that no pujis starved on 
these rookeries, though it is ])OSsible that these rookeries sufi'ered less from pelagic 
sealing from their position, faring the northeast. The ex])lanation lor the decrease 
on P^ast, Little East, and North rookeries, and the only slight increase on Zapadni 
and Staraya Artil, is that the foxes had reduced to loose bones all the pups originally 
counted and nearly all of the starved ])ups as well. About 25 foxes were counted in 
and about the roolieries. There was no practical difterence between the condition 
of the carcasses on Zapadni and Staraya Artil and those on the other rookeries. 

ESTIMATES FOR ST. GEORGE. 

The figures for St. George as they stand are not available for use or comparison. 
It is necessary, however, to form some estimate for this island. No fairer basis seems 
available than that of St. Paul. There it was found that the starved pups were 
11.19 per cent of the total pups born. Applying this percentage to St. George we 
have 2,259, including the 19 starving ones, as the proportionate number of starved 
pups for this island, or a total of 16,019 for the two islands. This is 55 per cent of the 
reported number of skins obtained by pelagic sealers during the present season in 
Bering Sea. In addition to these nursiug females the pelagic catch of course includes 
a certain percentage of those cows which lost their pups early in the season, and 
also a certain percentage of 2-year-old cows without pups but impregnated. 

Not only will the rookeries next year and on succeeding years suffer from the loss 
of the mothers of these pups, but through the death of the females, one-half of the 
total number of starved pups, the evil effects of pelagic sealing will repeat them- 
selves in 1899, when these pups should return to bear for the first time. The num- 
ber of starved pups for 1895 and the preceding year must have been even greater. 
Thus pelagic sealing eats away the herd, compound interest being taken with every 
female lost. 

The pelagic catch of the present season has been light, 29,398 fur seals having 
been taken in Bering Sea by 67 vessels, as against 43,697 in 1895 by 57 vessels. 



53 



PUP STATISTICS — SUMMARY. 



Rookery. 



ST. PAUL ISLAND. 



Kitovi 

Lukauin 

Lagoou 

Tolstoi 

Zapadui 

Little Zapadni. . 
Zapadui Iteef . . . 

Gorbatch 

Ardiguen 

Keef 

Sivutcli Rock . . . 

Polovina 

Little Polovina. 

Vostochni 

Morjovi 



Total 
born. 



Total 

Addition of 20 per cent for loss between August 

and October counts 

Starving pups to be added as starved 

Addition for bodies taken for dissection 



6,049 
4,450 
2,484 

14, 439 
17, 648 

4,200 

3,862 

9, 142 

652 

15, 258 
1,907 
6,673 
1,303 

27, 148 
7,773 



Dead. 



August. October. 



Starved. 



123, 048 



109 

205 

78 

1, 895 

3,095 

134 

104 

712 

950 
50 

635 
47 

1,808 
485 



609 
579 
316 

2, 449 

4,395 
693 
327 

1,878 
78 

2.786 
284 

1,555 
119 

3,313 
950 



10, 309 20, 331 



500 
374 
238 
554 

1,300 
559 
223 

1,166 
76 

1,836 

234 

920 

72 

1,525 
445 



10, 022 

2,061 

1,527 

150 



Total starved 



ST. GEORGE ISLAND. 



North 

Staraya Artil . 

Zapadni 

East 

Little East . . . 



6,809 
2,269 
5,509 
4, 086 
1, 350 



Total 

Starving pups added as starved. 

Total 



20, 023 



Grand total for both islands 143,071 



259 
135 
199 
112 
31 



11, 045 



145 

194 

527 

15 

16 



21, 228 



762 
253 
617 

457 
151 



2,240 
19 



2,259 



16, 019 



Starving. 



42 

27 

51 

191 

154 

64 

18 

126 

8 

300 

31 

55 

22 

329 

109 



1,546 



* The figures herein given for starved pups on the rookeries of St. George are estimates based upon 
the conditions of St. Paul. 

STARVED PUPS OX MKDNI. 

It has been deuied tliat tbe rookeries of the Comiiiiiuder Islands show a corre- 
sponding mortality due to starvation. On the rookeries at Glinka on Medni Island 
I found tbe conditions even worse than on St. Paul. The itelagic sealing is contin- 
ued through July on the Kussian side, and a larger percentage of tbe total number 
of females is destroyed. The following are my field notes on the subject: 

"Juf/ust ,?J. — Zapadui Rookery, of Medni Island, is a stretch of coarse shingle and 
rounded rocks on a sloping beach at the foot of very high cliffs. In the sea are large 
rocks, on which tbe female seals are now mostly gathered. On the shore are a small 
pod of females aud a number of groups of puj)s. No males, young or old, appear. 

" lu the first little pod of 20 pups, 6 are evidently starving; 8 recently starved; 
dead ones lie there, aud tiiere are 4 dead ones of older date, but also emaciated. 

"Zapadni Rookery seems not much larger than Little Pobivina, of St. Paul. On 
the rookery ground are 11 fresh-starved pups, besiiles 14 which seem, some of them 
at least, to have l)een starved, but which are now largely decomposed. 

"There are nutny carcasses of dead seals on tbe beach nearly devoured, and dense 
swarms of small tlesh Hies abound, their maggots destroying a dead pup or dead seal 
carcass very quickly. Evideutly of the very earliest pups only fragments remain. 
The air seems drier and warmer than on St. Paul, and a dead pup remains fresh only 
for a short time. Many which have not been more than a week dead have been 
reduced to skeletons and hair. 

"A pod of 46 pups on shore is examined. As a whole they seem much less active 
than Pribilof pups, smaller, sleepier, and more stujiid. Seventeen of the number are 
evidently starviug. Soiue look plump, but it is probable that nearly all of these 
laud pups are really starving; the large and well-fed ones have taken to the water. 

''Other pods show similar characteristics. In a group of some 200 about 80 are 
evidently starving. This is not a count, but a rough guess. The percentage in 
general holds for all groups examined. 



54 

"In this record no effort was made to get lull counts for lack of time. I Lave only 
noted what I saw. It is very clear that the starving; pup is in fullest evidence on the 
Glinka rookeries. On these rookeries trami)lcd ])ups must stand at the very mini- 
mum because the rookeries arc narrow and rocky, preventing massing, and bulls are 
few. There is little chance of drowning. 

"One pup in the water has crawled upon a rock about 10 feet from the shore to 
die. The rising tide will drown him if he doesn't siarve first. 

"On the edge of the slide at I'alata is ii little brook which has worn a small gully 
and which is doubtless resiiousiblc for the slide itsell'. In the brook were 4 dead 
starved pups, and in a )>od of 150 lying near it at least 50 more are starving. 

"The governor of Medni Island seemed rather sensitive on the subject of dead 
pups, as though ho felt that he might be taken to task for it. He spoke of the tram- 
pling of bulls as the cause. I tried to throw the blame on the pelagic sealers, and 
expressed my hojK^ that wise arrangements might ])Ut a sto]i to the loss. But it 
would seem that the authorities think the less said tlie better on this subject. 

"It is prol)able that most of the pods of ])ui)8 along the lieach are made up of 
starving ones, the strong ones being in the water aiul on the bare outlying reef. 
Even a fairly plump one seemed dull and dwarfish, while among the others are all 
stages of emaciation. The excessively nuujerous beach tlies make quick work of 
the bodies. 

"Sei)arating Palata from Zapalnta is a huge wall of cliff, at the foot of which, on 
the Zapalata side, is a number of ]>arallel or knife like reefs which extend well out 
to sea, bare at low tide, and now black with seals and pups, the females almost as 
dark as the young. The iiii]>s find excellent ])hi<-e8 for swimming between the reefs. 
A good many are scattered about over the slide which forms the rookery, mostly 
asleep, while many are crowded on the beach below. 

"On the detached north end of Palata 42 dead starved pups were noticed, with 24 
other dead ones mostly showing cuuiciation, but more than a week old, so that they 
can not be investigated. This rookerj', like the others, is one on which very few 
pups won Id be trampled. 

"One fresh pup, not emaciated, at the edge of the sea, has ajiparently <lrowned. 
This is the only ])up seen in condition to be examined in which the death was obvi- 
ously not due to starving." 

ai;topsiks ox mkdni island. 

The following autopsies are taken from my field notes : 

"1. Zapadiii. — Young male pup cast up by waves. Perfectly fresh; no trace of 
subcutaueous fat; lungs greatly congested, crepitate; no trace of water in him; 
heart normal, with some unclotted blood; liver very dark red; spleen pnrjdish; 
stomach and intestines empty, except the lower part, which contains the dark-green 
tarry matter; gall bladder nearly empty; kidneys deeply congested, the left most 
so; evidently starved, not drowned. 

"2. Zapadiii. — Female; wholly devoid of subcutaneous fat; vent foul with black 
tari-y matter; lungs deeply congested, not crepitating; intestines pale, empty, 
except for fluid brown bile; stomach em]tty, with mucus and bile; kidneys slightly 
congested, the left most. 

"3. tSahatchii Dira. — JNIale; no subcutaueous fat; lungs excessively congested, 
almost black, not crepitating at all; heart normal, with some blood; liver very 
black; left kidney much congested, the right a little; intestines with tarry bile and 
elime in lower p:irt only. 

"4. Sahatcha IHni. — Male; lungs greatly congested, crepitate; no fat; liver dark; 
black matter in lower intestines as usual, the alimentary canal otherwise empty; 
kidneys congested, the right most so; heart normal, with some blood. 

XIX. DAILY RECORD OF ROOKERY LIFE. 

ARDIGUEN nOOKEUY. 

Between Reef Point and the beginning of Gorbatch Pookery there is a group of 
isolated harems, 27 in all, this season, containing 6.52 cows, which lie in a particu- 
larly favorable location for observation. The harems are scattered along the rocky 
beach for a distance of several hundred feet. Near the southern extremity a gully 
leads up and back to the level of the hauling ground of Reef rookery. In the 
gully itself and ou the Hat about its mouth are a number of harems. At the side of 
the gully toward Gorbatch the cliff rises to a considerable height and overhangs 
these hai-ems, affording a view at close range without disturbing the animals. This 
section of breeding ground was under inspection at freciuent intervals from July 
14 until October 14. The place has beeu vaguely recorded as the "Slide" ou the 
Keef. The Aleut name here chosen for it means "a pile of stones." The following 



55 



are the field notes on this roolcery talien from the daily journal by Mr. Clark, Mr. 
Lucas, and myself: 

"Julf) 14. — Near the i)oint of the reef are seven or eight harems, which lie at the foot 
of an overhanging cliff in a position favorable for observation. They will be visited 
as frequently as possible. The ravine in which they are situated is steep and rather 
deep, spreading out into a flat tract al)ove. It is everywhere covered with large 
lava rocks worn smooth by the seals. The interspaces are filled with smooth gray 
lava sand. The seven harems designated for si)ecial study are known in order as A, 
B, C, D, E, F, and G. The first three are located on the level ground at the mouth of 
the gully. The others follow in order below. 

"A contains an active bull, not very old, with 7 cows. One is a large grny cow 
with a greenish tint in her coat, due probably to sea water. She is just in and not 
yet dry. She is restless and the bull treats her very roughly, knocking lier nose 
against the ground and making it l)lced. 

"The bull is now talking reassuringly to the cows who were alarmed on seeing me. 
He has a severe wound at the angle of his left fore fiipjier with the body. There are 
4 pujjs in haiem A. A pod of 16 jmps are playing on the rocks between A and B. 
There are 3 more on the rocks above A. 

" B is a larger harem. It contains 24 sleejiy cows. There are 9 pups in the harem, 
3 below and 24 playing between this harem and C. The bull in B is larger and browner 
than the one in A. 

"C is a big harem on the fiat rocks. The big black bull is very uneasy about a 
young 2-year-old bachelor whom A and B drove into his circle and who lingers there. 

"Every time the i>ig bull gets his eyes on him he dashes after him, but his attention 
is soon taken up with one or another of his many cows and the young fellow settles 
down in a difi'erent place in the harem. It is extremely difiicult for me to pick him 
out among the cows, but the liull has no such difliculty. The cows snap listlessly at 
him and he is in a restless state most of the time, but seems unwilling to get away. 

"There are 42 cows in this harem, perhaps another cow hidden. The bull has 
been taking a nap; he wakes with a roar and the little bachelor crawls over the 
cows, who f^nap at him. When the bull is quiet, the bachelor is also. The bull 
groans as if he had hard luck. The 2-year-old crawls into the upper part of harem 
D and the cows all bite at him till he perches on a fiat rock alone out of their reach. 

"There arc about 25 jjnps asleep in C. Some are nursing. D contains a big brown 
bull with a long mane; 30 cows are with him and about 2.o pups are scattered among 
them. Thirty-four pups form a pod between D and F, next to E. 

"E has 10 cows and a younger bull of domineering disi^osition. Nine pups are 
asleep, nursing or scratching their ears, in E. 

"F lontains a big bull with 4 cows, nearly out of sight, as is also G opposite him 
with 16 cows. Four pups are about F and 20 about G, also 1 lone cow in the rocks 
asleep. A cow tries to leave G and go to sea; the bull seizes and carries her back 
bodily. 

Summary of the typical harems. 



Harem. 


Cowa. 


Pups. 


A 


7 
24 
42 
30 
10 

4 
16 

133 


23 
30 
25 
25 
9 
4 
20 

142 
34 


B 


c .. 


D.. 


E 


F 


G 


Total 




Total 




176 







"Some of the pups " must have come up from the rocks below. 

July 15. — "At 3.30 a. m. the typical harems were visited. Two instances of copula- 
tion were seen at this time. The animals were as active as in the daytime. Of the 
pod of 38 pups 26 still remain. The harems have the same number as in the 
afternoon. 

" In the afternoon the ' Slide ' was visited again. Two half bulla were on the rocks 
above harem A. Hai'em B lies on a space about 36 by 30 feet. This would give an 
average of 45 feet each, no account being taken of space about them. They could 



* When the count of live pups came to be made later on, it was found that the 
disproportion was due to the absence of cows at sea. 



56 

all be oiowdeil into 480 stinare feet, if all were as elosely packed as some are. This 
would give an area of 20 s(|iiare feet each, or with pups, 10 square feet. This, how- 
ever, could never be possibk^, and 23 sfjuare fctit may be taken as a maximum in 
close masses, as True has estimated. 

" If H covers H(i by 30, A to (4 cover lOX by 72, or 58 scjuare feet; with bulls and 
pups, 21 s(iuare feet each; this is above the average lor rookeries under the clitt", as 
23 is a niaxiniuui in massed rookeries. True's estimate is not very far from correct, 
if rookeries could be measured. 

"Jiili/ m. — A had 7 cows; H, 29; 1 afterwards proves to be the young male noticed 
at first visit to this point; the bull still after him. Driven out into the nest harem, 
he fiiuilly works his way down and goes into the water. C has 43 cows, K h.'is 25, 
and F lias 16. There are other harems below, but they seem to have a fair proportion 
of pups at hand. Hut for these five harems, wliich contain 110 cows, there are 132 
pups in sight. Thirty- eight of them are i)layiug in a group above the highest harem. 

" While counting the harems a cow gave birth to a pup very close at luind. Atten- 
tion was tiist called to the event by a copious discliarge of water from the cow, which 
ran down the rocky slope on which she was lying. Tlie hind llipjiers of the pup were 
seen tirst. The cow was \ery uneasy, changing her position fre(iuently, but chiefly 
kei'ping a sitting ])osture. In about two minutes, an(i api)arently with no very great 
eftort, the little fellow was born hind flippers first, evidently not the usual w:iy. The 
mother quickly turned herself about, tearing off the cord and freeing the little fellow 
from his covering. 81ie nosed over him, but made no attempt to lick or otherwise 
dry the pup. It almost iunnediately began wriggling about. The mother bleated 
over it like a sheep and seemed very much excited. A cow that was near by reached 
over, but was savagely snapped at l)y the newly made mother. The old bull came by 
and sniffed at the little fellow with a mild show of interest. The pup was on a slip- 
pery, slanting rock, and every movement it made caused it to slip down. The mother 
took hold of it by the neck just as a cat would tal<:i' her kitten and dragged it up to 
her side. She would draw its head up to the teat, but it was some time belbre the 
little fellow made any very definite attemjit to nurse. Later on it seemed to nurse. 
The mother seemed very anxious that it should do so. She finally moved uj) to a dry 
place and drew the pup up after her. A neighboring pup coming by was snapped at 
savagely by the mother. 

" In anotlier harem a cow was seen to pick up a pup by the back of the neck and 
cari-y it clear across the harem. Could not say whether it was her own or some 
other's pup. She laid it down and apparently paid no more attention to it, though 
the little thing remained near her. 

"One cow in harem A seemed to have a cough. Every few minutes she would 
be doubled up with a fit of coughing. 

"Jiilill?. — A had 7 cows; li, 19; C, 29 only; D, 27. The young bachelor is not now 
visible. E has 9 cows; F, 6; G, 9. One in 1) is wet. The cows are asleep in indo- 
lent attitudes, but they waken occasionally and fight sleepily. 

"The young bachelor has evidently returned. He is driven out of Binto D by the 
angry bull. Wherever he goes the cows are in a turmoil and bite at him. He is now 
among the pups at the bottom of D. Passes a noisy cow, who strilves at him ; tram- 
ples on pups of F and goes on dragging his iiiud legs over pups and upsetting them. 
He can be traced down to H, where he goes reluctantly, probably passing on to 
the sea. 

"Away outside from C there is a big black bull, with a cow and pup, evidently a 
new harem. Call it X. 

" The bull calf paddles down to the harem at the very foot slowly and reluctantly, 
trampling all the pups he can; they recover themselves rajiidly. 

"The old cow with the green fur, now silverj", formerly in A, is now in charge of 
an idle l)ull a rod higher up. Call him Y. 

"Jiil/I ID. — About 4 p. ni. Cold and rainy. A has moved up 15 feet nearer the 
rocks and has 7 cows, his original number. Another bull from behind is located in 
his place, but has lost the cow he had stolen the other day from A's harem. We have 
designated bini as Y. There is no difficulty in rei'Ognizing the cow by the peculiar 
shade of her neck, though now that she is dry this is not very marked. 

" B has ouly 10 cows ; C, 23, spread out and climbing on the rocks, prol)ably because 
of the muddy conilition of the harem, due to the rain. X has 1 cow and 2 pups. D's 
harem is much spread out, 15 cows. E has 3; F, 17; G, 2. 

"Pups still being born, red placentas lying about. Cows much more scattered, 
probably to avoid mud. Pups podding. 

" J/(?// .'0. — The harems were visited at 5 o'clock. The day was very thick with fog, 
the wind blowing in with considerable force from the southeast. These harems were 
somewhat protected, all except those on the fiat, C, B, and X. The following is the 
count to-day: A, 4; B, 6; C, 25; D, 14; E, 3; F, 17; Y, 0; X, 4. The cow with the 
peculiarly marked neck seems to be gone. Afterwards one wet cow from the sea 
comes up and enters in C, hunting for her pup. 



57 

" For the 73 cows now in the harems there are 192 pups visible. Of course, they 
may come up from the harems farther lielow,* and yet these, too, show a fair 
si)rinkling of jinps. 

".lull/ 21. — In the forenoon. Harem A has moved well up under the lee of the 
cliff with biit 1 cow. Y remains in the old position of A, but with no cow. 

"B has 5 cows; C, 30. X has 6 cows, growing- right along. D has 14 cows; 2 of 
them show by their wet coats that they have just come from the water. The bull 
belongiug to E is gone; 7 cows lie about the old position ; F has 5 cows; G, 15, lying 
about asleep. The bull of E is seen lying down below G fast asleep; seems consid- 
erably cut. There is a wet cow climbing up to C. A pup ejects a quantity of 
cream-colored excrement. 

"At 11 o'clock 2 cows come out of the water and move directly up the gully to the 
harems, where they arrive in five miuutes. One cow ascends the rock, and seems in 
no hurry to find her pup. The other looks about and calls loudly, walks over one 
end of a solid mass of 30 pups, turns about so as to face them, lingers, then goes 
over to the outljing pups aiul noses some of them ; snajis at them ; comes back to the 
bunch of 30, noses over them, and snaps them ;is they wake up. At 11.17 finds a pup 
which she recognizes and allows to nurse. She then clears away enough pups from 
the rocks to make room, and sits up and dozes; appears tired and sleepy. The pup 
nurses, although the cow is wet. It shifts from nipple to nii)ple en left side. 

"July 24. — A has still his 4 cows under the bank. X has none and maintains A's old 
position. Y, who had 6 cows at the last enumeration, has none to-day, but lies 
beside his rock with 2 pups. B has only 4 cows; C, 19. I) has apparently 32, but 
part of them may belong to E, who seems to have been thrown out of his position 
and lies behind I). F has 15 cows. The number of pups still remains undimin- 
ished, but they are lower down the slide. A pod of 25 are down on the rocks so 
close to the water that the spray was breaking over them this afternoon. They were 
evidently there to meet the cows returning from the water. 

"The pups on the 'slide' have all moved down somewhat. The pod of 38 pups 
originally which was on the level is now down in the gully. 

"It is significant that the cow first noted with the greenish tinge on the neck is 
present again to day, having been present on .July 19, but absent on July 20. She 
has been absent four or five days, doubtless, at sea. 

"July 27. — B has 5 cows aud many pups. C has hauled back on the grass out of the 
muddy place where he belongs. There are 53 cows with him, evidently part of them 
A's. D lies alone below his place with 1 cow. Other cows are scattered along the 
muddy slide. A is asleep in his later place with 3 cows. E is gone altogether.! F 
is in his place with 8 cows. G is asleep away below; 9 cows are scattered about 
where he belongs. X has no cows and is above As old place. Y is gone alto- 
gether, unless a lone bull on the edge of the cliff is he. The green-necked cow with 
her pup is with A. Two wet cows come in slowly and creep up the slide bleating 
very loudly, shaking their heads. There is nothing going on at the water Iront. 
The few wet bulls are inactive. 

"A cow selects a pup from D and repels 2 others. A large pup comes from above 
down the wet slide to meet the mother and they crawl slowly up to D. Other pups 
look anxiously at each wet cow. 

"July 20. — A is asleep with 2 cows on the flat rock, with a large pod of pups rolling 
and biting one another in the neck and flippers. 

"B has 13 scattered cows, but spends most of his time in D, wdiere a 'water bull' 
(Zj has come up aud tried to establish himself, having apparently observed the dis- 
appearance of E. 1) is indifi'erent and half asleep down toward F, with whom he 
has a wordy discussion. D has 8 cows, and they squabble a good deal. A's green- 
necked cow is down in 1). The water bull remains in E, where there a e 3 cows. D 
is near him aud orders him out, but both seem very sleepy. Twenty-eight cows are 
with C, who is pretty active. X is behind him with none. Y is well back, with 1 
cow. Another bull well behind Y has 1 cow. Y is very fierce. Z, the water bull, 
lies back of C and D; he climbs up toward C, but the bull above growls and he 
comes down. F is active and has 9 cows. E is gone. Two weeks ago Z would have 
been skinned alive if he dared enter the harems iis he does. He tries again to go up 
to C, who uses strong language. 

"A is pretty lean. C makes a heavy lunge into a pod of pups and stands on the 
flipper of one, who pulls and pulls and can not get away until the bull moves. 

"Jnly.iO. — The slide shows continual change. There are 58 cows upon the flat 
where the harems of B and C were located. Probably 35 of this number were in 
B's harem, but they stampede by way of C's harem, many of them going down over 
the cliff, but some of them almost immediately returning. On account of the stara- 

* See note to page 55. 

t E was the first adult bull whose departure from his stand was noticed — July 27. 



58 

Eede of the cows to the harems below it is dil'licult to deterinine the status of harems 
», E, F, and G. 

"A yoiiiii; ()-yeai-okl bull (Z), noted yesterday as trying to loi;ate himself in the 
slide, is now u]) above 1) and seems very active. lie annoys greatly the cows try- 
ing to return to harem C, dragging them back down the slide as they climb the 
rocks. One cow has a particularly hard time. She bites Isiin severely in the throat 
and on the back. The other bulls do not seem much inclined to tackle him. They 
are too lazy now. 

"A is still under the cliff in his position with 10 cows. One gets away and ia 
taken up by an idle bull above. He keeps the cow for a few minutes in the position 
formerly occupied by X. X has left his ))lace and lies l»y the rock where Y used to 
be. Y is down l>y the brow of the cliff, a little farther along than the i>osition occu- 
pied by an idle bull, which has kept his position from the beginning. 

"In the cows now controlled by B there is a little brown one, very small; she 
looks very much like what one would expect a virgin * cow to be. 

"July 31. — ^The 'slide' visited at 3 o'clock. One ])up observed just born. Placenta 
still attached. Cow fairly large, but of the whitish color of those 8U])posed to be 
young. Doubtless she is a 3-year-old, with her first ])U]). She is in charge of a half 
bull lately come on the water front. There are other cows in the harem. A cow 
draws up tlie pup to her breast by the nape of the neck. 

"A large pod of pups are playing in the water. They seem to enjoy it greatly. 
Those entering the water are not confined to harems near shore. \Vet ones are 
observed at the very top of the slide. One wet pup comes up to harem A. He 
waits a little and then goes back down the incline toward the water again. He is 
watched two-thirds of the way down. The wet pups are scattered all about in 
every pod of sleeping ones. They seem even smaller than their fellows, but prob- 
ably this is because the water has smoothed down the fur. 

"A wet cow just in from the water is watched for a few minutes. She calls ; three 
or four pups answer. The cow ceases to call; probably she has heard her pup, and 
not wanting him until she is dry, she gives no further attention. No pup comes to 
her within half an hour. 

"A mother lying near the large green rock awakens and calls. Her puji responds 
and comes to her. She is in a position which does not give the little fellow any 
chance. The cow fusses about, calling to the puj), who keeps up a response. Finally 
the little one is pushed off the rock and slides down 10 feet. The mother is alarmed 
and calls frantically. The jiup comes to the foot of the rdck and looks up, calling, 
but can not climb the rock. The mother calls repeatedly. Finally the jtup makes 
a wide detour and gets up to the mother. She moves to a better place and the pup 
takes his dinner. 

"The changes in the harems in the "'slide' goon. A has 10 cows. B has 6 cows 
near him, and ])robab]y 4 more at some little distance are under his jurisdiction. The 
harems are all scattered out in irregular fashion. Among his 6 nearest cows are 3 
little white-breasted cows with dove-colored backs. They look like virgins. The 
other cows are brown and larger. 

"The little cow, supposed to be a virgin last night and which was on the crest of 
the slide, ap]iears to be about halfway down in another harem. She is brown, but 
very small, seeming to be the smallest cow seen. It is probable from her case that 
the light color does not necessarily represent difference in age, but rather individual 
variation in color.t It can hardly be po.ssible that it means simply that the brown 
cow has been a longer time out of the water, as has been claimed. Have [G. A. C] 
watched the rookeries from the time the latter explanation was first offered on 
July 8, at St. George. These light cows were present in uuml)ers then, and they 
have been and .ire present in about the same proportion ever since. Some of them 
now on the rookeries are ntirsing pups as large and vigorous as any to be seen. 

"C has 19 cows. X is gone from Y's place. An idle bull from the rear has taken 
his position — the old position of A. Y is still by the cliffs edge. X is lying flat in 
the edge of C's harem, which is crowded down toward the cliff. D has 20 cows, but 
can not be certain. The young half bull Z, seen to tease the cows trying to return 
from the slide to C's harem, lies sleeping in the place where we left him last night. 
There are V2 cows in the space formerly occupied by E, a different bull in charge, 
F and G can not be distinguished or counted with certainty. 

"Aiigii-'it ;?. — A is still under the bank and has 4 cows, with jiossibly more out of 
sight. The green-coated cow is not in sight. B has 8 cows; C, 23. X is now in D's 

* Later observations show that she was a virgin 2-year-old. 

t The true explanation seems to be this: The dark-colored cows, adult, come first. 
The white-breasted cows are all young and most of them late comers. But some 
even of the yearlings are brown underneath, like the old cows. 



59 

old i)lace, and seems to control 18 cows; they are very much scattered. Wlien last 
seen, X was in the outer edge of C's harem, on the tlat. He has evidently i'on<''ht his 
way down the slide or else has been thrown down by bnlls B and C. 

'•The water bull Z seems to be comfortably settled with three cows. It lends dig- 
nity even to an undersized bull to give him a harem to take care of. E h;is 9 cows; 
F has 5. There seems to be a bull in G's place — perhaps he is himself back — with 10 
cows. 

•'As we go round to the end of the reef the cows in C and B are frightened and 
8taui])ede down the 'slide.' In ten minutes a half dozen are back on the tiat. 
Doubtless all will be back in a short time. Y has disappeared. 

"Jitf/ii.si 6. — ^B is down oft' the flat in the slide with 7 cows. He has evidently 
been down there since the time he and C were stampeded. C is on the flat still 
with 24 cows. A has 6 cows under the bank. There is a new bull from the top in a 
position between B's old place and A's original place. He has 3 cows. Y has 6 cows. 
X is down in the slide with 6 cows. The water bull Z has been driven out. 

"^liif/iinf 9. — A is on his shelf, active and very lean ; 8 or 10 cows. The old green- 
backed cow, often rel'erred to, is there. B is in his ])la(e with 2 cows. C is active and 
holds 16. X is below A, with pu])s about him and 4 cows near. A new bull, very 
black, is in A's old place. Z is back with 4 cows, one very aft'ectionate. lazily biting 
him. Eleven cows scattered below X. D is active, with some 10 cows or more. F is 
fast asleep with 2. E is out, and G. There are 31 bulls, not more than half seemingly 
old timers, on the vihole of Ardiguen. There are 189 cows present, and 434 ]>ups. 
This count, however, is not likely to be final, as it was made from the top of the liank, 
and there may be a large number of pups and a few cows hidden. 

"Arduguen presents extremely favorable conditions for pu]is, there being appar- 
ently only 2 dead pups in the entire region. No bachelors run down in this slide, 
which is well provided with angular rocks. There is no hauling ground at Ardiguen, 
its bachelors going around on the parade giouiid of the reef. 

••Three young bulls are still waiting i^atiently behind. Many of the cows in the 
harems are young females. 

•'Ji({/i(st Ifj. — Fifty females in one harem, and two new harems started, presided 
over by 5-year-old bnlls. The bull in charge of principal harem seems as active as 
ever — an old fellow. The original harems can not be distinguished. 

•' The gully leading down to the water is full of seals and pups. I do not notice 
any dead pups, for this highway to the sea is strewn with angular bowlders. 

"While many of the seals ])reseut are 2-year-olds, still there are old cows present 
which li'om their actions may not have l>een pregnated as yet. Many of the cows 
are white and fresh looking. 

"August ..'3.— But 1 bull, the oldest (C), is left of the harems at the head of the 
slide. A light rain is falling, and this part of rookery is deserted. The cows call 
their pups, but do not always take care to select a good spot for nursing. One cow 
sits on the rock in water where the sea at times washes completely ovei' nursing pup. 

"The young l>ull at the head of the slide is gone. The old bull seems to pay court 
to but 1 cow, and that the 2-year old. In fact, the 2-year olds are almost the only 
cows now looked after. 

" I'rom the way the pups play in and by the water it is more and more evident 
that we may get but a small ])roportion of starvelings; many will be drowned and, 
with others, may be washed away." (F. A. L.) 

•' September 3. — A's ])lace is vacant; in it are 3 cows and many pups; all asleep. In 
B's place is a young l)ull asleep; no cows. Behind A's place is a sleeping black 
bull, probably one froui l)ehind; no cows. C has no bull; 8 old cows; many pups; 
no young cows about. Pups plump and large. 

"The gully is full of old cows with pups. Three pups are now dead; a few 
more are starving; but most are very plump. About half the pups are wet; no wet 
cows. No bulls below exce|>t wet fellows by the sea >Sorae wet cows come in ; they 
move very slowly, (^ne cow floods the place with urine. 

"A young bull with 6 young cows lies well back from the mouth of the slide on 
the plain. Another bull is behind him. 

•'There is much excrement of cows and bull on the rookeries. 

"A wet cow climbs to C; she calls loudly and pup comes at once. 

"The rear edge of the whole Reef Rookery is now lined with hundreds of year- 
ling cows more or less associated with harems of 2-year-ol(ls, which are guarded by 
young l)ulls. The rookery extends far back from the sea. The starving pups are 
all game to the last. Some starving ones are grouped about, good for a week or so 
yet. Some starved dead ones are also to be seen ; but these are not numerous as yet 
on the Reef. 

''September 6. — Mr. Lucas counts 4 additional starved pups, making in all 15 to the 
present time. These have died within a week. 



60 

"A wet cow is seen to recognize a pup wLieh looks aa if he were half starved. He 
is very eaj^er, but his niother is slow to f;ive him a chance to nurse. The little fellow 
seems almost ready to eat her up. He ii<;ht8 oft" the other pups in the way, and 
keeps shaking his head and ciiUiug to his mother. Two other i)ups, phiinly starving, 
are following the cow. Tlieso she drives off. This cow lias probably been an 
unusually long time away. At hist she climbs to a flat rock near the head of the 
cliir, ])ushes a pod of sleeping piijis oft' from it, and, after much delay, she nurses 
her own. 

"There are many starving pups in the 'slide.' The old bull in A's position still 
holds his ground. 

" Septcmher IS. — About the head of the slide are IdO or more yearlings and 2-j ear- 
old bachelors, playing and chewing one anotlu'r as at the other end of the Keef. 
The stream of bachelors extends down into the runway oft' h'cef I'oint. There are 
cows and pu]is among them farther down. 

"The big brown bull that has been in A's place is on hand to-day with the bach- 
elors about him. Two young bulls are lighting near him. One of them seems very 
much excited and keeps up a steady roar. He remains while the other one with- 
draws, lie sees me, and then watching me, keeps on roaring. He goes down into 
his (dd place, then goes out to meet the big brown fellow^ and after a show of tight 
the big fellow moves away. The smaller bull is just in and dripping. As he dries, 
he begins to look familiar, and catching sight of his left fore dipper with its great 
scar, I recognize him at once as the original A of the slide back in his old place. 
His every action seems to proclaim that he is at home. A wet cow conies u]> with 
her imp and he rounds her up and talks to her. He moves about .just as in the breed- 
ing season. This bull has not been about for at least three weeks and he comes back 
looking as if he had been away feeding. 

" The big brown bull has gone over to Ii"s original place, just as if he recognized 
A's right to the shelf under the rock and went home. He looks as though he might 
actually be B. (G. A. C.) 

"A wet cow is coming up the 'slide,' calling loudly. A little gray pup, very thin 
and with a starved look, wakes u]) from under the big rock on the south side of the 
elide. He is at the top of the cliff and she is at the bottom, and it looks like a case 
of recognition. The little fellow sets out to climb down and slips, sliding head over 
heels to the bottom. The cow recognizes him and starts up the side at a place 
beyond, the i)Oor little pup alter her. He has to make many trials. He looks just 
like many of the pups we have been ]»ronouncing doomed. The cow's ears are white. 
She wanders about and settles down on the tiat stone that Ibrmed part of the bound- 
ary of B's harem. Her pup begins nursing eagerly. You can almost imagine you 
see his sides indate. 

"The brown bull starts B for the rock, drives oft" the cow, and settles down on it. 
She wanders oft" and the pup after her. Presently the bull starts alter a cow. At 
once the cow returns with her pup. The bull comes back and gets on the rock. 
When last seen, he was lying' on the rock and the cow sitting on an edge beside him, 
while the little pup stands in the mud. 

"lieturning by Zolotoi sands, I ftnd that the half albino which was so conspicuous 
in the earlier ]<art of the season is out again, wet. It looks as though these were 
home-coming days. 

"There are at least 3 freshly dead pups in the slide. In one place there are 4 close 
together, all of which have died within a week. Two hopelessly starving little 
fellows are seen moving about. (G. A. G.) 

"September 19. — Occasionally in ditt'erent parts of the rookeries you find a bull in 
some particular place who seems not to have left it. They are generally in isolated 
positions. The black fellow that has been for the past two or three weeks at the 
head of the 'slide' is an example. 

"There are more and more seals on the Hat height (»f the parade ground. Cows 
and pups have moved back into the green flat at the eastern side on account of the 
rain. 

"At the mouth of the 'slide' the bachelors are as yesterday. They have spread 
out over a good part of the little grassy hollow back of the mouth of the gully. 
There is a wet bull in C's ])lace. He acts as though he owned the place, working 
industriously but iueftectually to keep out the young bachelors who are ))laying 
sikatch. He drives them all far out, then comes back and lies down, but they are 
back about him in a few minutes. The wet fellow goes over to make a lunge at the 
big black fellow and then does the same thing to A. .lust the i)erformance of the 
breeding season, but in a milder way. 

"The bull at A is the original A without a particle of d<nibt. He is dry now and 
is recognizable by general appearance without his scar, but this removes any possi- 
bility of doubt. One would thinic that these old fellows knew us, they have seen 
us so often. They look up and roar. A is rounding up his cows and parading him- 
self over his shelf just as in former days. 



61 

"A little gray P'lp, j"St able to move about yesterday, is now dead on A's shelf. 
The little half-stiirved gray pup noticed trying to hnd his mother yesterday is nursing 
to-day, and has tilled, out considerably, though he still shows the eftects of his fast. 

"The old l)lack bull is lying on the rock from which he put the mother off yester- 
day. She is on another rock. 

"There is a big wet bull coming up the 'slide' fresh from the water. He is in 
fine condition, and he toils up slowly. When he gets to E's place he goes over there 
roaring, routs up and smells of the sleej>ing cows. He then moves to the foot of the 
cliff' near the big rock, roaring all the time. The black bull above gets off" his stone 
and comes to the edge. They lunge at one another. The black liull goes back and 
the wet bull sits down in D's place. I will warrant he belongs there and is D him- 
self, and that here are four of these original l)ull8 back (A, B, C, D). 

" Sei)temher 20. — Several old bulls are in position on the edge of the reef. One is 
out in the surf with the pups before the 'slide' acting as though he would land. He 
did land in a few minutes, but went away again. 

"A heavy surf is coming in here. The pups are evidently afraid of it. When they 
want to land they dive under a breaker and then come in in the spent water. When 
the returning water begins to let them down on the rocks and another breaker is 
coming behind them they turn about and dive out under it, coming up in the spent 
water and swimming in as before. Sometimes they have to go through the process 
several times. The old cows take a longer time than the pups and are decidedly 
cautious. The sifrf this morning is higher than I have seen it here. 

"The bulls are lunging at one another and herding up the cows just as in the 
earlier days, but all their motions are mild and lacking in the old tire. They 
evidently realize that there is nothing to fight for. 

"A cow is swimming about in the surf with a x>np following her. It is evidently 
her pup. When they get separated she calls and the little fellow answers. 

" Septeinher :?9. — Ariligucu was found to contain 78 dead pups. There was 1 cow 
which was not noted in the i)revious count. One of the old bulls on the slide 
refused to go off and kept his position. On nearly every rookery some of these old 
fellows, returned from feeding, object almost as strongly to being moved now as at 
the height of the season. An hour afterwards, returning from the Reef, the seals 
are found back in their old places at the mouth of the slide, {(i. A. C.) 

" October 1. — The head of the 'slide' was measured, at Mr. Lucas's suggestion, and 
found to have a total area of 256 feet. Thirty-tliree cows and 4 pups were included. 
This would give an average of a little less than 8 square feet for each one. 

"Three 'killers' are seen passing along the side of the reef in the direction of 
Otter Island. There is no s])ecial commotion among seals. They are evidently feed- 
ing, judging from the gulls alighting in their wake. 

"Ardiguen is about as iisual. Onlj- 3 cows — no pups or bulls — on the flat above. 
One starving x>up visible; has only a few days to live. The pups are very large 
here. Many of them are bigger in every way than the yearlings. 

" It is plainly not true that all the pups turn gray. Many are now in color exactly 
like the yearlings — the brown ones. These pups are just as large and sometimes 
larger than the gray ones. There is just the same distinction in the pups as in the 
yearlings, and for that matter the cows themselves — individuality of color. (G. A. C.) 

"October 14. — There are no bulls on the upper part of Ardiguen, and only 1 or 2 
cows on the flat. There are 8 bulls lying at the water's edge, or rather teasing 
cows there, for they chase every moving cow that comes near and try to hold her. 
As a rule she hovers about a minute, biting gently at the bull's neck, and then 
edges off'; the bull does not follow. The bulls have evidently just come back from 
feeding. They are in good condition. It is evident from their actions that if neces- 
sary they would be able and willing to serve cows. 

"One of the bulls on turning about proves to be our old friend A, having his scar 
and general appearance. He has not been on his shelf since before the count. 

" On account of the rain this morning the bulk of the seals were in the water. 
Those on laud were perched on stones and holding their heads in the air." (G. A. C.) 

XX. THE THREE FUR SEAL HERDS. 

THE HEKDS ENTIRELY DISTINCT. 

The fur-seal herd of the Pribilof Islands does not intermingle in any way with 
that of the Commander Islands. The persistence of outline in the different parts of 
the individual rookeries indicates that the adult seals, male and female, come back 
not merely to the same island but as nearly as may be to the same i)lace year after 
year. In a general way the males on the hauling grounds are proportionate to the 
females on the rookeries. When the bachelors are released from the killing grounds, 



62 

they freqneutly enter the sea at long ditstances from their original hauling grouml, 
but there is every reason to believe that they return iinniedijitely to their own 
hauling ground, olten passing others on th<^ way. Many of the bnlls'after returning 
from feeding resume their old places on the rookeries, and the others liaul out on 
favorite sand beaches, on which they rest in the intervals of feeding. With the 
younger seals this return as to i)lac(^ is doubtless less certain. Hut it is more than 
likely that the 2-year-old females and the yearlings of both sexes return to their 
home rookery. 

DIFFKHENCE BP:TWKEN HKKUS. 

There is, as has been noticed by various furriers, considerable dirterence in form, 
color, and ajipearance between the seals of the Commander Islands herd and those 
of the Pribilofs. The form of the Pribilof seals seems broader in the head au<l fuller 
in the neck and breast. The color of the females and young runs through various 
shades of warm brown, cinnamon, and silvery gray. The seals of the Commander 
Islands are sooty in shade, though varying from liglit to dark, lint with little brown 
or silvery. Tiie head and neck are more slender in ])rop()rtion to Ihe girth. The nails 
in the fore flipper are developed in the Commander herd, but rudimentary in the 
Pribilof herd, only a little pit in the skin marking the place of each. These charac- 
ters are all subject to individual variation, but they will hold good of the herd as a 
whole. The fables of the colonization of the Commander Islands by fur seals from 
the Pribilofs at some comparatively recent date have no basis as knowledge. If the 
members of the two herds intermingle on any feeding ground, which is unlikely, 
each returns to its own islands. 

Dr. Stejneger and Captain Moser Inrther note that the fur seal of the Kurile and 
Robben islands, which constitutes the inshore herd of Jai)an, is likewise different 
from that of the Commander Isands in that the fur near the skin is ([uite white. No 
rookeries now remain ou the Kiirile Islands, the raiders having destroyed pups and 
all, on Mustr, Kaikoke, and Srednoi, not more than 50 seals being now left. Only a 
few hundred are now on the Kobben Island. 

XXI. BRANDING. 

BRANDING PUPS. 

The recent experiments in branding female pups on the two islands will help 
future observers to record the movements of the cows. During the present season 
124 pups and 2 cows on Lnkanin Kookery were marked on the back with the following 
brand ^; on Kitavi 191 pups were branded across the shoulders with this mark, 
— , and on North Rookery of St. George 62 pups received this brand, =, and 9 
cows this, =. 

It may be here noted that branding is perfectly feasible. It does not seriously harni 
the pups, while it effectually destroys the value of the skin. Close watch of the 
branded pups on St. Paul Island was kept until the date of leaving. It was found 
that neither the wound nor the healed brand interfered with the relations of pup 
and mother. The salt water, while it had the effect of keejting the wound raw and 
uncomfortable looking, also kept it clean, and probably in the end hastened the proc- 
ess of healing. By the 1st of October, from three weeks to one month after the 
branding was done, the wounds had healed jierfectly and the pups were as lively as 
their fellows. It was possible any day in October to count from 50 to 100 of the 
branded pujis on Kitavi and Lnkanin rookeries, and this was a fair proportion of 
the pups to be on land. At the time of the count of starved pups on St. George, 18 
of the branded pups and 2 of the cows were seen, all in perfect condition. No dead 
ones were noted. On St. Paul only 4 branded j)ups are known to have died, and the 
rookeries were carefullj- searched for them when the count of starved pups was 
made. Two of the pups were killed — 1 to furnish a specimen skin, 1 because it was 
starving. One of the others was plainly drowned, and the fourth was too far decom- 
posed when found to make it possible to ascertain the cause of death. 

Mr. .1. D. Williams, of Brooklyn, N. Y., a member of the only firm making a busi- 
ness of dying seal skins in this country, gives it as his opinion that if a brand were 
to be applied to the back of the seal even so imperfectly as to leave no permanent 
scar or trace in the raw skin, in the process of curing the fur would doubtless come 
out, and the very fact that any class of seal skins were liable to this defect would 
cast doubt upon the whole lot and depreciate their value. This process of branding 
would therefore in itself, if necessai'y, put an end to pelagic sealing. 



63 



XXII. PELAGIC CATCH, 1896. 

AMERICAN VESSELS. 





Catches. 


Remarks. 




Vessel. 


North- 
west 
coast. 


Japan 

and 
Russian 
coasts. 


Bering 
Sea. 


Total. 




Alton '. 


99 


547 
86 


175 


821 

86 

865 

648 

39 

623 

935 

35 

1,376 

491 

120 

140 
595 
688 
904 

24 
250 
938 
855 
117 
928 

82 


Seized, Bering Sea, 
22, by Corwin. 

Seized, Bering S 
Perry. 








Bering Sea 


228 

244 

39 

88 


637 
404 










C. 0. Perkins' 










535 




Elsie 


935 




Geo. W. Prescott 


35 
1,376 








................... 






483 


8 


Aagust 
ea, by 


Jas. G. Swan 


120 

140 
595 


















534 
639 


154 
265 




M. M, Morrell 






Puritan 


24 

250 












Rattier 


649 

405 


289 
450 




St. Lawrence 

Teaser 


■■"in" 






724 


204 




Indian canoes, etc 


82 












Twenty-one vessels 


3,437 


5,002 


3,121 


11, 560 





CANADIAN VESSELS. 



Vessel. 


Commander seal 
herd. 


Pribilof seal herd. 


Total. 


Japan 
coast. 


Russian 
coast. 


NW. 
coast. 


Bering 
Sea. 


Ada 








723 
282 
139 
411 


723 




545 






827 






428 


567 


AUie I. Algar 


659 


48 


1 118 


Amateur 


109 
431 


109 


Aimift C. Moore 






1,088 
225 
438 
77 
532 
92 
305 
569 
234 
903 


1,519 
1,040 


Annie E. Paint 


815 

1,034 

360 










1 472 


Aurorat 






437 


Beatrice (Shanghai) 




381 
363 


913 


Beatricel (Vancouver) 






455 




327 




632 


C. D.Rand 






569 


Carlotta G. Cox 


1,222 






1,456 


Carrie C. W 




169 


1 072 


Casco 


808 


202 


1 010 


City of San Diego 


213 


400 


613 




997 
1,076 


95 


1,092 








1,076 


Dolphin 




502 
377 


607 
826 
662 
251 


1,109 








1 203 








662 


E. B. Marvin 


836 
29 






1,087 








29 


Falcon 






340 

1,049 

614 


340 








824 

428 

63 


1,873 


Fawn 






1,042 


Fisher Maidt (wrecked) 






63 


Florence M. Smith 


602 




271 


873 



*This table, furnished by Mr. Townsend, has been corrected to correspond with later advices- 
received by the Treasury l)epartment. 
t Seized. 



64 



CANADIAN VESSELS—Contiiiucd. 



Coiuinander seal 
herd. 



Vessel. 



Fortuna. 
Geueva. . 
Ida Etta. 
Kate . 



Japan 
coast. 



537 
499 
6^3 



Katharine (foundered, 208 skius lost) . 

Kilmeny 

Kitcaht'la 

Labrador 

Libbie 



Mary Ellen... 
Mary Taylor. 

Ma.seot 

Maud S 

Mermaid 



S83 
192 



Minnie 

Ocean Belle 

Oscar and Hattie. 

Otto 

Ocean Rover 



Osprey 

Pachwellis 

Penelope 

Pioneer 

Sadie Turpel 

Sapphire 

San Jose (vrrecked, 4 skins lost) . 

Saucy Lass 

Selma 

Shelby 

South Bend 

Teresa 

Triumph 

TJmbrina 

Venture 



Russian 
coast. 



171 
451 



Pribilof seal herd. 



NW. 

coast. 



893 

582 



231 
606 

742 



Vera . 

Victoria 

Viva* 

■Walter L.Eich.. 

ZillahMay 

Indian canoes - . . 
Clayoquot store - 



572 



204 

"166" 



91 
502 



486 
353 



152 
458 



Bering 
Sea. 



418 
230 
471 



70 



269 
164 



93 
'2,353' 



370 
31S 



50 
308 
593 
536 
137 
417 
602 
345 
484 
316 
589 
501 
602 
200 



897 
375 
281 
1,002 
605 
555 
185 
183 
359 
483 
750 
298 
442 
264 
901 
70 
399 
822 



Total. 



708 
950 

1,033 
522 
215 
100 
50 
399 

1,095 
536 
520 
609 
602 

1,285 
970 
900 
942 

1,220 
602 
200 
152 

1,355 

1,268 
863 

1,420 
835 

1,026 
185 
183 
429 
714 

1,376 

1,081 
711 
836 

1,065 
677 



2,353 



Sixty-eight vessels 18, 275 



1,028 10,800 I 26,277 56,380 



•^ Seized. 



SUMMARY OF CANADIAN VESSELS. 

Japan coast 18, 275 

Russian coast 1, 028 

Commander seal herd 19, 303 

Northwest coast 10, 800 

Bering Sea 26,277 

Pribilof seal herd 37,077 



RECAPITULATION. 

Canadian vessels 56, 380 

American vessels 11, 560 

Total 67.94 



65 



PROPORTION OF THE SEXES. 

The customs-house returns, as regards sex, are available for the American vessels. 
It has not yet been possible to obtain them for the Canadian fleet. The statistics 
for the American fleet are as follo^ws: 



"Females. 



Japan coast 

Russian coast... 
Northwest coast 
Bering Sea 

Total 




According to these figures, 92 per cent of the Northwest catch and 72 per cent of 
the Bering Sea catch were females. 

JAPAN CATCH. 

A small catch was also made by vessels sailing under the Japanese and consular 
flags. 

Golden Fleece 315 

Silver Fleece 260 

Josephiue 60 

Pointer 328 

Chishuuia i\laru 1 408 

Chishuraa Maru III 618 

Kai wo Maru 3.58 

Nohi Maru 276 

Total 2,623 

ALEUTIAN ISLAND CATCH. 

In the fall of the year, after the seals leave the islands, they are seen in consider- 
able numbers in the bays and inlets of the Aleutian Islands, where a certain number 
of them are killed by the natives. The following is a record of the skins of fur seals 
taken in 1895, shipped from Unalaska on the steamer Bertha, July 29, 1896, kindly 
furnished by Mr. Stanley-Browu : 



Locality. 


Gray 
pups. 


Females. 


Malea. 




381 
614 
180 
43 
206 
4 


4 
23 
2 
7 
4 
1 


8 






9 












10 


Unalaska 




1 


Sannak 












Total 


1,428 


41 


28 









XXIII. RESULTS ARISING PROM THE ACTS BASED ON THE 
AWARD OF THE PARIS TRIBUNAL. 

CONDITIONS OF PELAGIC SEALING. 



By the act of Congress and the act of Parliament, based on the award of the Paris 
Tribunal, pelagic sealing was recognized as legal, but subjected to the following 
restrictions, in brief: 

1. No fur seals are to be taken within a closed zone of 60 miles distance from the 
Pribilof Islands. 

2. No fur seals are to be taken at sea from May 1 to July 31, inclusive. 



66 

3. Only 8ailiu>> vessels -with iiiidecked boats or canoes can be used in scalijij'-. 

4. Each sealing vessel shall take out a sjjoeial lieense and shall fly a distinguishing 
flag. 

5. Each master of vessel engaged in fur-seal fishing shall record in his official log 
book the i>lace, numlier, and sex of fur seals captured each day. 

6. The use of nets, tirearuis, and exydosives in Ucring Sea is forbidilen. 

7. The two Governments must see that lucn engaged in fur-seal fishing shall be iit 
to handle the weapons used. 

8. These regulations shall not ajiply to Indians of either country using undecked 
boats of the usual sort outside of Bering Sea and not under contract for delivery of 
skins to any particular person. 

9. These regulations for " tlie protection and preservation of the fur seals" shall 
remain in force until they have been in whole or in ])art abolished or modi lied by 
common agreement between the United States and Great Britain. The regulations 
are to be submitted every five years to a new examination, and to be modified if 
experience .shows the need of change. 

These regulations, nominally " for the protection and preservation of the fur seals," 
may be each briefly considered : 

1. Sixty-mile zone. — The 60mile closed zone aff"ords no real protection to the fur 
seal. It does "preserve the rookeries from invasion, and its I'stablishmeut is of 
prime importance, both as preventing direct raids on the islands and as affording a 
precedent for real protection. A 10-mile limit could be easily invaded by canoes, 
but a 60-mile limit keei)s all sailing vessels too faraway. It is not likely that fur 
seals often feed within the 60-mile limit, and it is not certain tliat .'iny more seals 
would be taken ata40-mile limit from St. Paul than would be at a 100-iuile distance. 
It is, however, evident that the radii of the movements of seals must converge as the 
island is approached. In any adjustment the patrol of some closed zone mnst be 
maintained. 

2. Oj)c/i seasoH. — The most important part of the open season is now the month of 
August. In that mouth the greatest number of seals are on the feeding grounds in 
Bering Sea. There is less fog then than in June and July, and severe storms are rare. 
The conditions for capture of seals are more favorable. It is in August also that 
pelagic sealing can work most harm to the herd. The injury to the herd depends 
solely on the number of females taken. A^'hetber these are killed in the spring when 
gravid with pup or in the fall to leave the pup to starve to death makes no jn-actical 
difference. In September seals are abundant, but the autunm storms drive the 
schooners out from Bering Sea soon after the middle of the mouth. Alter the middle 
of August the skins become inferior through "stagiuess," incident to the change of 
fur. In general the bulk of the seal herd reaches Bering Sea early in Jiuie. June 
and July have not been regarded as good mouths for pelagic sealing. The needs of 
parturition and impregnation, with the rigid discipline of the harem system, keep 
about one-haif of the females on the rookery for mo.st of that time. Those going 
toward the islands probably do not loiter very much. In February, March, April 
and May the seals move northward along the coast and are taken at various points 
from California to Alaska. According to Mr. Alexander most of the old males 
winter in the Fairweather grounds in the Gulf of Alaska. Of the spring mouths 
probably May is the most favorable for pelagic sealing. This month is now included 
in the close season. As the seal herd is steadily diminishing, the spring or " North- 
west Catch ■' is becoming relatively unimportant. In 1896 most of the sealing 
schooners were on the Japan coast in May and June during the migrations of the 
Commander herd, returning in July to Unalaska in time for repairs and to enter 
Bering Sea August 1. 

It is reported that the .Japan catch has been this year unprofitable, having fallen 
off half since last year. This is not surprising, as the Commander Island heixl, which 
furnishes most of this catch, has been rapidly declining in numbers. It has suffered 
from pelagic sealing much more severely than has been the case with the Pribilof 
herd. At its best the number of seals on Bering and Medni islands was about half 
the number fotmd on St. Paul and St. George. The Commander herd is at present 
certainly less than one-third the size of the Pribilof herd. 

No change in the present close season nor in the regulations connected with it, 
not even if involving the closure of Bering Sea, would be etil'ective in saving the 
herd if pelagic sealing is permitted at all. The maintenance of the herd demands 
the prohibition of indiscriminate killing. No final settlement is possible except on 
the basis of the amicable surrender of the right to kill fur seals at sea. 

3. iSteain vessels not permitted. -The requirement that only sailing vessels shall be 
used is in the interests of small shipowners. Steam craft would lose less time, but 
as the work of sealing is done in canoes, there would be no great advantage in the 
use of steam vessels, especially in view of the price of coal at Unalaska. 

4. Special license and flacj. — The minor requirements of a special license and a 
special flag for sealing schooners are, of course, convenient for purpose of record or 
recognition at sea. 



67 

5. Statistical records. — The requirement of statistics as to localities of fur seals 
taken has some value in dctei'niining their distribution in the sea. The requirement 
that the sex shall also^be recorded is farcical. Such information if obtained would 
be valuable, but it can not be gained in this way. Masters of vessels will not put 
themselves out to give accurate statistics if it is believed by them that to tell the 
truth would be against their own interests. As to this, Mr. A. B. Alexander has the 
following pertinent remarks : 

"It has generally been supi)osed by most sealers, and the view is still entertained 
by many, that if it were known that a greater number of females than males were 
taken it would greatly affect and possibly restrict their privileges when the time 
came for a readjustment of pelagic relations. The fact has generally been lost sight 
of that the condition of the rookeries at the end of five years will have the most 
weight iu deciding the matter. 

"That pelagic sealers should pay little attention to the sex of the seals taken 
was but natural, as they had no object iu determining- which sex predominated, the 
thought uppermost iu their minds being to capture as many seals as possible." 

For example, according to I\lr. Townseud, the schooner Stella Erland reports in 
her log 83 males, 82 fenuiles. The customs examinations showed 130 females, 35 
males. The Teaser reported 41 males, 46 females. The customs officers found 23 
males, 64 females. Similar discrepancies occur in the log books of many other ves- 
sels. Even where an attempt is made to make an honest record, all fur seals not in 
milk are recorded as males, as it is not easy to distinguish the sexes except by direct 
inspection. 

The Canadian sealers are this year further required to note also the "barren 
females." As the sealers have neither means nor time to look for the minute fetus 
present in August, all cows not iu milk nor obviously gravid must be recorded by 
them as " barren," if indeed they take the time to observe the sex at all. The bar- 
ren female of the fur-seal herd is an imaginary being. Yearlings, 2-yeaT-olds, and 
cows who have lost their pups early, will seem to be barren. 

6. Froliibilion o//??-tarw(s.— Through the prohibition of the use of firearms in Bering 
Sea, fur seals are killed by the spear and clul). This arrangement is supposed to 
give an advantage to the Indian hunter who has long been expert iu tlie use of the 
spear. White men soon become with practice equally skillful. According to Mr. 
Alexander, tlu3 white hunters are at this disadvantage: They are employed also as 
sailors, while the Indians, being useless on shipboard for any other purpose, give 
their whole time to hunting. The white hunters have the advantage of greater per- 
sistence. The Indians are readilj- discouraged by bad weather and bad luck. 

When fur seals sleep after feeding, as is often the case in Bering Sra, they can be 
more surely taken with the spear tiiiiu with the gun. Theuoise of the gun moreover 
alarms others in the vicinity. Traveling seals are probably more readily killed Avith 
buckshot, and doubtless if guns and spears as well could be used in the canoes more 
seals would be captured. With the shotgun the number lost after being mortally 
wounded is vastly greater than with the spear. Without attempting to discuss the 
vexed <iuestion, it is safe to say that the number actually secured by shooting is very 
much less than the number killed. The capture of 1,000 skins through the use of the 
shotgun represents a much greater loss to the seal herd than the same number 
taken with the spear. A considerable number of the living seals on the island carry 
buckshot in their bodies. Some speared seals also escape, as seals with spear 
wounds and also with spearheads in the skin are occasionally seen on the islands. 
The tenacity of life in the fur seal is extremely great. Unless hit in a vital part it is 
able to swim a long distance even when severely wounded. 

American sealers are now required to have their firearms sealed by the customs 
officer at Unalaska. No such requirement is made of the Canadians. This discrep- 
ancy is unfortunate for the latter, as the possession of skins of fur seals which have 
been shot exposes their vessels to seizur*'. The absence of firearms unsealed would 
in such case afford a strong; presumption that no violation of law had been com- 
mitted. The failure of the British authorities to make this obviously reasonable 
regulation is the source of some ill feeling among the sealers themselves. 

The refusal of the British' authorities to permit examination for shot skins and for 
sex to take place in the customs offices instead of on the decks of the schooners seems 
to us a serious error, involving great inconvenience to the patrol vessels, as well as 
to the sealers themselves, as the patrol officers could not undertake the repacking of 
opened cases or casks of salted skins. 

7. Skill in use of spear. — The regulation requiring each fur-seal hunter to show 
that he has the necessary skill to use the spear is valueless and borders on the 
ridiculous. 

8. V 86 of open canoes. — The privilege of fur seal hunting along shore in undecked 
canoes has long been exercised by the Indians of Barclay Sound, NeahBay, and other 
localities. This article provides for the continuance of this privilege imder the old 
conditicms. The Aleuts of Unalaska, Unimak, Akutau, and other islands have, how- 
ever, been included under the provisions of the Paris award and are forbidden to 



68 

exercise the same right during the closed season, it being supposed that in these 
waters it would be possible to destroy larger numbers of seals than can be taken by 
the. Iiidiiiua on the northwest coast. This is apparently not the case, and there is no 
good roason for this discrimination. 

9. lievh'ion. of vffinlatioun. — 'fhc really important (dauso in tVie award of the Taris 
Tribunal is that which relegates the matter after tive years to the authorities of (ireat 
Britain and the United States, giving these nations, vitally eoncerued, the right and 
duty to protect the fur seals in case the regulations already adopted fail in this 
regard. 

PATHOL OF HERING SEA. 

The acts of Congress and of Parliament, in connection with the award of the Paris 
Tribunal, make necessary the joint i>atrol of the North Paeilicand Bering. Sea l)y vessels 
of the United States and (ireat Britain. The work of the jiatrol in Bering Sea is in 
the highest degree difficult, onerous, and expensive. This work has ))een performed 
with the greatest faithfulness, so far as the United States is concerned, by the admir- 
ably organized revenue-cutter fleet under the eomi)etent direction of Capt. C. L. 
Hooper. How unpleasant and even dangerous is the continuous cruising in this rough 
and foggy sea those who have not visited this region can hardly appreciate, while 
the examination or seizure of schooners belonging to men too ignorant or too careless 
to heed the restrictions laid on them by the Paris Tribunal is a task extremely 
unpleasant. The results are not worth the costs, as regulations not in a high degree 
self-enforcing are useless to the fur-seal herd. The patrol deet for 18!l() has con- 
sisted of the revenue cutter Bush, Capt. W. H. Roberts; Perr;/, Capt. H. D. Smith; 
Corwin, Capt. \V. D. Roath ; Grant, Capt. J. A. Slamni, and IVolcoH, Capt. M. L. Phillips. 
Of these vessels the Corwin was assigned to the 60-mile zone. The region patrolled 
by the other vessels has been divided into four quadrants, the \'essel8 being assigned 
to one or another from time to time. Neither fur seals nor sealers have been found 
in the northeast ([uadraut. For Great Britain H. Xi. S. SuteUtte, Pheasant, and 
Icarus have done the duties assigned them, under tlie direction of Capt. A. C. Allen. 
Each of the American revenue cutters has cruised in the North Pacific and about the 
Pribilof Islands, covering in the aggregate about 70,000 miles, the cost of coal alone 
being about $35,000. Seven vessels supposed to be violating the regulations have 
been seized. ()f these five (James G. Swan, Ainoko, Viva, Beatrice, and Jane Gray) 
were found within the prohibited zone, one {Aurora) had shot skins on board, and 
one (Sitka) had neither special flag nor license. The Kate, seized for having two 
skins containing shot holes, was released, having no firearms on board. 

CLOSING OF BEHING SEA. 

If a close season were so limited in time as to virtually close Bering Sea, and the 
custom houses of Great Britain and the United States were to cooperate in the work 
of patrol, it could be performed by fewer vessels, and jjossible seizure of schooners 
for unintentional irregularities would be less likely to occur. So long as pelagic seal- 
ing is ])ermitted, however, under any regulations, it will run its course and cut its own 
throat. This is only a (juestion of a year or two, more or less, whatever the regula- 
tions conti'olliug it. Of the present restrictions, the sixty-mile zone and the closure 
in May, .June, and .July only, are worth the cost of enforcement. It is not necessary 
to search the seas to lind vessels in the close season if the customs houses ])revent 
their clearance at that time. The examination of skins for shot holes should be made 
at the customs houses by experts. The deck of a schooner in a southeast gale is not 
the place for such investigations. 

HOPE OF PERMANENT AD.TUSTMEN'T. 

That the way is open to a permanent, honorable, and amicable adjustment the 
present writer does not doubt. The facts in the case no longer admit of cavil. 
The high character and unquestioned ability of the commission of investigation 
api)ointed by Her Majesty's Foreign Office in IS'Jti afford a guarantee of judicial 
fairness in any future action of the British Government. 

NO SETTLEMENT FINAL IF PERMITTING PELAGIC SEALING. 

In any event, this is certain: No settlement not the right one can be tinal. This 
final settlement will not be hastened by indirect attempts to save the fur seals by 
limiting pelagic sealing while still legalizing it. To call names will certainly not 
mend matters, rich as the vocabulary of our indignation may be. If the Paris 
Tribunal was in error in its conclusions or in its regulations its mistakes are 
not necessarily fatal. Their attempt at compromise is only an episode, not a 



69 

settlement. The sole possible basis of adjustmeut mustbe the protection of the fur 
seals through mutual couocssion,* iuteruationtil courtesy, and self-respect. 

So long as pelagic scaling exists the restrictions governing it are of slight impor- 
tance, and the relations between the owners of the Pribilof Islands and the nations 
whose ships have the right to destroy its herd must be in some degree strained. 

The ultimate end in view should' be an international arrangement whereby all 
skins of female t fur seals should be seized and destroyed by the customs authorities 
of civilized nations, whether taken on land or sea, from the Pribilof herd, the Asiatic 
herds, or in the lawless raiding of the Antarctic rookeries. In the destruction of the 
fur-seal rookeries of the Antarctic, as well as those of the .Japanese islands and of 
Bering Sea, American enterprise has taken a leading part. It Avould be well for 
America to lead the way in stopping jielagic sealing by restraining her own citizens 
without waiting for the action of other nations. We can ask for protection with 
better grace when we have accorded unasked protection to others. 

As t<> this, Mr. Hamlin has made the following strong statement. t which I fully 
indorse: 

"Before the Paris award our counsel contended pelagic sealing was an inhuman and 
immoral pursuit. By that award it was legalized, so to speak, and both English- 
men and Americans were allowed to take part in it. I believe tirmly, however, the 
United States (lovernmeut should iirohibit pelagic sealing by its own citizens. I 
think it ought to go into this controversy with clean hands. It is an immoral pur- 
suit; Toper cent of the seals killed at sea are fen-ales; 75 per cent of the females 
killed are heavy with young or (and also) have pups on the islands. Iheir young 
thereupon die with them or starve on the islands. It is an inhuman butchery, and 
I believe it is the duty of the United States to stop it as regards at least its own 
citizens. 

"Of course the criticism is at once made that if we do that it would leave it open 
to Englishmen as a monopoly, but I still feel, in spite of that, we owe a duty to 
humanity to put an end to it as regards our i)eople and then proceed as best we can 
to have it discontinued by Englishmen. I feel very strongly and very keenly that 
until we do that we do not enter this controversy with clean hands. It was our 
whole case abroad that the butchery was inhuman; that it was simply torturing 
females, and the whole moral sentiment of the world is against such cruelty to 
dumb animals. * * * i think it would be most desirable to have such a prohibi- 
tion enacted into law." 

THE SEA OTTEH. 

A closed zone should be extended by international agreement about the Trinity 
Islands, Saunak Islands, Chirikoff Island, and the seas about other islands inhabited 
by the sea otter, and provision should be made to insure the sea-otter herds of Alaska 
from destruction. The sea otter can only be protected by international agreernent. 

PROPOSED SLAUGHTER OF THE SEAL HERDS. 

I may here express my feeling that the monstrous proposition to destroy the seal 
herd because it has been injured by pelagic sealing ought not to be considered for a 
moment. It would be a confession of impotence unworthy of a great and civilized 
nation. Its result would be to transfer to ourselves any odium which has deservedly 
fallen upon those who would recklessly destroy a most useful and a most interesting 
race of animals. 

If extreme action be thought necessary the safe and eftective method of branding 
the female pups could be tried. But this ought never to become necessary. 

David Starr J0RD.4.N. 

Palo Alto, Cal., November 7, 1896. 

*In this connection, we may note that the average price of pelagic fur-seal skins 
in London is about $8 each. Froui this the cost of capture and transportation is to 
be deducted. The average value of the female for breeding purposes under proper 
protecti(m would be about $10 to the owners of the islands. The value of pelagic 
skins is only about half that of skins taken on land. This difference is due to their 
lack of uniformity, the staginess of those taken after the middle of July, the pres- 
ence of shot or spear holes, and the inferiority of the methods by which the skins are 
preserved. 

+ There is no difficulty in distinguishing the sex of salted skins, if proper care be 
taken. Female skins are best known by the presence of the nipples. 

X Hearings before Committee on Ways and Means. (Dingley bill, 1896, -p. 8.) 



'' 



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